


All My Wolves Begin To Howl

by SuperStitious18



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Alternate Universe - Werewolf, Angst, Canon Related, DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV) Season 3, F/F, Fluff, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-26
Updated: 2020-06-20
Packaged: 2021-01-03 21:02:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 36,035
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21185933
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SuperStitious18/pseuds/SuperStitious18
Summary: Five year old Sara Lance is running for her life from creatures that want to toy with her and possibly hurt her.Until a mysterious saviour saves her and she's...A small wolf?-----------Sort of a werewolf au(This story is unfinished and will remain as such.)





	1. Chapter 1

A five year old Sara Lance was trying to outrun the animals chasing her, hunting her since she'd been separated from her family during their annual camping trip. Normally, the animals weren't so vicious or angry, but there must have been something she'd done to provoke them into chasing her.

It was horrible. It was terrifying, and Sara  _ knew  _ they were toying with her, because they were so much faster than her so why wouldn't they just go ahead and catch her? She was scared, so scared that they'd get her.

Sara weaved through a few trees, trying to lose whatever was chasing her and scratching her arms against the brush as she stumbled over a root. She got back to her feet, pushing on despite the hot tears that streamed down her face and the aching want to stop. 

Before she could make it back to her family, she tripped and fell into a puddle of mud, no doubt ruining her chances of surviving this. The snarling and excited yipping got closer and closer, scaring her even more and sealing her fate.

She didn't want to die. She didn't even get to say she was sorry to her mom and dad, or to Laurel, for the pain she'd been and for running off. Sara wanted to  _ live _ , she had things she wanted to do after all.

The snarling suddenly turned into scared whimpering, vicious, yappy sounding barks ran them off, and then there were teeth clamping on the back of her shirt and pulling her out of the mud that she had gotten stuck in. It was confusing, she didn't know whether to fight back or to curl up into a ball and hope whatever grabbed her would leave her alone.

But what  _ did  _ grab her? Sara slowly uncurled and she almost screamed when she came face to face with a rather young wolf. Instead, she froze, locking eyes with the animal, she didn't understand  _ why  _ her first feeling was safety. There was no way a wolf, even a small one, would let her escape alive.

Then Sara actually screamed and scrambled backwards in fear and praying the wolf wouldn't kill her.

But then the wolf just plopped down on her haunches, panting and almost looked like she was… smiling? That didn't make sense, Sara should most definitely be dead right now. Not...

The wolf's tail started to wag when she noticed that Sara wasn't running away anymore. Then  _ bam _ , suddenly there was a bright light, and what followed would go down as one of the strangest experiences in Sara's young life.

There was a girl about her age sitting in front of her, in tattered clothes and without any shoes and she looked rather happy and extremely proud of herself. She locked eyes with Sara again and grinned, showing off very human teeth.

"I-?" Sara didn't know what to say.

"I saved you!" the girl chirped, puffed out her chest and straightened up from her spot. "They were being dumb meanies but they wouldn't have hurt you. But I scared 'em off!" 

Sara whimpered, she started shaking now that her ordeal was over and she could barely think about it. "I-I want my mama, and my daddy, and Laurel." She got out and started crying from all the emotions catching.

"Don't cry! I can take you to them! I can hear them or, or smell them! I'm Ava, who are you?" The disheveled girl asked, almost feral in her excitement to figure out who Sara was and to help her stop crying. She circled around her to get a better look at her and she only stopped when Sara curled in on herself out of some sort of self preservation instinct.

"S-Sara." She sniffled, peeking out from her ball to look at Ava who was  _ right  _ in front of her. Sara didn't run away this time as she was oddly fascinated by who was in front of her. She honestly thought werewolves were only legends, monsters made up to sell horror movies. "You're… a wolf?"

"Uh huh! Born one, and my papa says I'm the  _ best  _ out of my litter at shifting." Ava looked proud of herself again, bragging about her abilities now that Sara was asking. "I'm gonna be a  _ big  _ wolf someday! My mama said so." Ava shifted back into a wolf, showing off her (as of now) small stature. It was almost like looking at an eight month old husky, but blonde and without all the markings. 

And didn't most wolves have brown eyes? Ava's were a really pretty shade of blue, just like Sara's and it helped her remember that  _ this  _ was her saviour and not a feral animal.

Sara also had a strange urge to pet Ava, her ears just looked so cute and soft that she wanted to play with them.

"That's so cool." Sara stood up, shaking on her feet and she pitched forward, only to be caught by the soft fur and lean muscle of her newest friend. "I wanna go home," she whimpered, even more tired now that her adrenaline was officially gone. 

Ava nudged her onto her back, easily shifting her weight comfortably before trotting off the direction Sara came from. 

It was so peaceful and quite nice that Sara suddenly knew why people loved the forest, finding it an amazing experience. She was honestly still terrified of what happened but, Ava promised that they'd get back to Sara's family and she just,  _ trusted  _ her. She even dozed off, letting her new werewolf friend guide her back to her family.

She only woke up when hands picked her up and angry voices yelling at an animal to shoo. Sara barely asked, "Ava?" before passing out again in her father's arms.

When she woke up, she was curled up into Laurel's side with their parents sandwiching them in either side. The adults looked ragged, even in sleep and had no doubt searched tirelessly for her after they got separated.

Did she imagine the whole thing? Did she really meet a werewolf and befriend her? Was Ava even _real_?

Sara squirmed, not wanting to be squished anymore and wiggled out of their grasps, somehow not waking them up as she slipped out of the tent. 

She took a deep breath, intent on sitting next to the fire pit and watch the (still roaring) fire burn away. It was still dark and Sara felt like she should be scared, but something was preventing her from feeling any sort of terror.

Her ears picked up the pitter patter of feet on the ground and instantly she tensed, slowly turning towards the sound and hoping that it wasn't hostile. 

She saw a smallish wolf do a few hops and then pounce onto a bug that she was clearly torturing just for fun. Sara relaxed when she recognized it as Ava and she made a small noise to alert the wolf that she was no longer alone.

Ava's ears perked up as she trained on Sara, her whole body started wiggling with the furiousness of her wagging tail and she skipped over to her human friend. She knocked Sara over, still wagging and trying to get puppy slobber all over the girl's face.

Sara squeaked, giggling as she was pinned to the ground under the weight of her new friend and trying to avoid getting licked in her nose. "Ava!" she whispered, trying not to wake her parents up. "Stop!" 

Ava sat back, still sitting on Sara's lap as she shifted into her fully human form and gripped at Sara's shirt. She grinned down at her friend, still vibrating from excitement. Then she started babbling about how she protected the camp and stopped bugs from getting into the tent, then about how she kept the fire going. "I did it  _ all by myself!" _

Sara giggled at how proud Ava was of herself and decided to hug her. Which was a great idea as Ava hugged her back, still vibrating from how full of energy she was. "Did you sleep?" Sara asked.

"Nope! I had to protect! Plus, a really big spider tried getting in your tent, I had to get it." She stated matter of factly, like it was the most important job in the world. 

Not that Sara would say it wasn't. Bugs were  _ icky. _

"Wanna play?" Ava hopped off of her, instantly shifting back into her wolf form and bowing in front of Sara. Sara perked up, scrambling to her feet to play chase her new friend.

\-------------

Sara was eight now, sneaking off from the tent that she shared with her sister to try and find Ava. She remembered that her daddy told her stories about how the wolf brought her back to them after they got separated. Then Ava would hang around and protect them, sometimes stealing away to snuggle with Sara.

Even if she did remember this herself, it was interesting to see it his way.

Her father had been torn between being very unhappy and sort of elated that his daughter was finally stepping out of her shell and making a friend. Even if she was a  _ werewolf  _ of all things.

"Ava?" Sara whispered, holding on tightly to her backpack that was filled with goodies and some safety gear this time around. She honestly didn't know where Ava would be but it seemed like a good idea to start in the place they last met and go slow. She was older and therefore a little bit wiser about what to do when venturing alone in a forest filled with creatures who could eat you for lunch.

A small, happy yipping noise caught her attention, and she saw a very blonde wolf lying on her side, ears back and eyes sparkling with her tail wagging a million miles an hour.

The only contrast that made Sara's stomach turn so bad she had to throw up her dinner was the bear trap clamped down on one of Ava's legs, the grisly wound in plain sight. She had no idea how Ava was still  _ so happy  _ even if she had to be in excruciating pain right now.

Sara carefully got closer, just in case Ava decided that she was in too much pain to be nice right now. "Hey, Aves?" she said softly, gently touching the wolf's soft fur, and her little heart broke when she noticed the tears streaking her cheeks. 

Sara knew she wouldn't be able to get the bear trap open on her own and she also knew her parents would be  _ livid _ if they found out that she snuck out without their permission. No matter what her parents would do, the decision was easy. 

She wasn't going to leave Ava helpless and alone and to  _ die. _

She paged her father on the emergency line, radiating her coordinates so that Quentin would be able to find her. Sara put away the device, sitting on the ground and pulling Ava's larger head into her lap and almost crying at the whimper she got.

"I called my daddy, he's gonna help. Crud, what do they do? He told me what to do when someone is hurt, talk to them. Do you wanna hear how school is going?" Sara found a rather mundane topic, hoping it'd fascinate Ava long enough to keep her from drifting off. She didn't even want to  _ look  _ or  _ acknowledge  _ Ava's hurt leg, knowing it'd make her run and throw up again.

Ava started nodding off after a little bit and Sara slapped her face, getting an indignant huff from the wolf. "You  _ can't  _ fall asleep!"

"Sara Lance! What the  _ hell are you-?" _ Quentin's angry voice was cut off by the sight he saw and the pleading from his youngest for him to help her save Ava. "I- I thought you didn't remember her. You never told me any different!"

"I didn't forget, daddy, please, please help!" she begged, holding Ava's heavy head, trying to get her to stay awake despite the blood loss attributed to the traumatic injury. "Please," Sara cried, not seeing Quentin and now Dinah run over to start working the bear trap free from Ava's leg.

It was a struggle, especially since it was a heavy duty steel trap, but they got it free and wrapped Ava's leg up. Dinah had to separate them so Quentin could carry Ava back to their campsite and properly treat her wound.

Back at the campsite, Sara held Ava's head in her lap, shakily telling her about the plans for the next day to go fishing while the wolf whimpered and flinched as Quentin and Dinah worked on fixing Ava's injured leg. 

"I-I got my report card back yesterday, Aves. All A's! My social studies teacher says I'm really smart but I don't know, I don't like school too much." Sara said, her voice unsteady and she refused to look at what her parents were doing. She missed the look of surprise they traded as their daughter wasn't exactly known for being a chatterbox about what was happening at school.

"Sar, she's gonna be okay." Laurel tried to reassure her little sister, not liking the pain that showed in Sara's voice. "Mom and dad are  _ great  _ at this! Tell her about when we volunteered at the animal clinic!"

Sara sniffled, wiping at her face haphazardly, quickly so she could go back to stroking the soft fur of Ava's wolf form. "Yeah, um, we helped the animals and uh, daddy was  _ real  _ good with this scared little dog. He knew how to wrap his tail and how to clean it so it didn't get infected! Mom is good with the birds, she got me a little canary but he's staying with my grandpa, she said that he wouldn't like the woods."

"Sweetheart." Quentin got Sara's attention, distracting her for a moment from her little story. "We did what we could, I'm honestly surprised the bear trap didn't completely crush her bone." 

Sara shuddered and clung tighter to Ava, she didn't want to know what would have happened then. "What now?" she asked, checking and making sure that Ava was still awake. She was, but her breathing was severely laboured and she even had tears streaking her fur. "She's crying!" Sara exclaimed, worried and wanting them to do  _ something.  _ Ava was in pain, why couldn't they stop it?

"Sara, we don't have anything to stop her from hurting." Dinah tried to sugarcoat the fact that they were in the middle of nowhere, with a "werewolf" who could kill them all without hesitation and with a limited medical supply that this animal definitely took up. But even with all those facts, she felt like it-  _ Ava _ wouldn't hurt them. "I think you talking helps, it's good to keep her awake, make sure she knows she's not alone."

Sara nodded firmly, determination filled her body at that. If she had to stay awake all night, feed and make sure Ava drank so that she could get her strength back, then so be it.

She'd make sure Ava was  _ never  _ alone.

\-----------

Sara leaned back against the tree she was using as a backrest, Ava's warm weight acted as a blanket against any chill the fire didn't ward off. She had been up for hours at this point, small bits of sugar kept her going as well as the fact that if she fell asleep, then something might happen to Ava. 

She couldn't lose her, they hadn't been friends long or hadn't seen each other often enough but there was  _ something  _ that told her that Ava was important. Sara felt like that if Ava… died, a part of her would go missing too.

"Y'know, Aves?" Sara asked, lightly tugging at the wolf's ear and getting nudged in the stomach for messing with Ava. "I like being friends with you, because it's like having a dog and a best friend all in one. I'm a dog person! Even if I have Rocket, that's the name of my canary. I wanted to call him Dagger but my dad say no."

Ava made small noise as she adjusted her body weight so that she was lying evenly on Sara's legs. She also opened her mouth, signalling that she was ready to eat another salty chip. Sara watched her, fascinated and amused.

"I never thought I'd be feeding a wolf chips." Ava's eyes were on her, patiently listening to whatever Sara had to say.

It was still odd, being so close to something most people considered dangerous. And nonexistent. Werewolves had only been the talk of myths and tall tales after all. But here she was, one resting on her legs as she healed from an injury that was  _ cruel. _

Sara glanced down at Ava when the wolf shifted again, resting her head more on Sara's stomach and slowly closed her eyes. "Hey! No, no, Ava, don't close your eyes!" Sara shot up from where she had been lying down and started to freak out when Ava didn't move again. "Ava!"

Her parents ran over to her, her yelling having gotten them up from their sleep and Laurel trailing shortly behind them. 

Quentin pulled Ava off of Sara while Dinah and Laurel held  _ Sara  _ back from thrashing and fighting to get to Ava. They also had to make sure she was okay because she started what looked like a mini seizure in tandem with Ava's own flailing.

"Shit!" Quentin swore, ignoring the fact that Laurel was still able to hear him. "What the hell is happening?" He panicked, wanting desperately to go over and stop what was happening to his daughter but he knew she'd never forgive him if he let something happen to Ava.

Dinah had a small gut feeling about what was happening but she was unsure if it would be accurate. "Get Ava to stop first, see if that helps!" She ordered her husband around, glad he immediately set to work with the limited resources that they had.

And as  _ soon  _ as Ava stopped, Sara did, her small body slumped and unconscious in Dinah's lap.

"We've got to take her to the hospital, don't we?" Laurel asked, worried and definitely scared.

Dinah shook her head, her lips pressed into a thin line. "How the hell do we tell them that our daughter's  _ soulmate  _ caused her to have a seizure? And said soulmate is a werewolf?"

None of them said a word after that.

\------------

When the morning came, Ava was up on her feet, she hopped around on three legs and whined whenever her injured leg brushed against something. Trailing close behind her was Sara, who yelled at her to stay still and lie down to rest her leg. Sara didn't want Ava to pass out again because the  _ last  _ time that happened, well, Sara had screamed and cried so loud because she thought Ava just gave up.

And how  _ dare  _ her new best friend leave her? Sara had so many things she wanted to tell Ava, maybe even see if Ava's parents would let her go to the city with them for a day or two...

So yeah, Ava couldn't die on her. Plus, her family had been giving them strange looks ever since they woke up and it was nice to not be the only one confused.

Suddenly, the snarling they could hear had everyone on edge and whipping around to see two large wolves approaching them, obviously hostile. They were crouched low, stalking towards where Sara and Ava were sitting, and their anger only grew when they noticed the bandage around the other wolf's foreleg. Their lips curled even more, their shoulders pinched tighter the angrier they got.

Just as they looked like they were about to attack Sara and start a fight, Ava jumped in front of the girl, she snarled and warned off the other wolves. She made it very clear that if the attacked Sara, attacked her friend, then that would be the wrong choice.

They backed down, surprisingly enough, even though Ava wasn't all that intimidating. Now they were just confused instead of angry. Ava limped over and greeted them, her tail wagged and she licked their snouts. She was greeted much the same but they worried over her leg, nosing the area gently and wanting to lick it, but to their dismay, it was bandaged. 

"Um, hi." Sara approached slowly, sheepishly, scared they'd turn murderous and growly again, but she trusted Ava to protect her. Plus, if her hunch was right after, then they wouldn't be threats after she explained what she happened. She buried her hand in the soft fur behind Ava's neck to ground herself and steel her nerves. "Are you Ava's parents?" she asked, not noticing the surprise from her still paralyzed family.

The two wolves looked surprised again, exchanging glances between themselves, shocked that the small human knew their daughter's name. They shifted into their human forms right in front of her, still eyeing Sara warily as Ava nuzzled into her and pushed her to the ground to lie down on top of her.

"Ava!" Sara giggled and got licked in the face again. "Noooo. Don't do that!" Her protests went unheard as Ava wiggled and tried to give her more kisses.

"You are Sara?" Ava's father asked, starting to relax a little as he noticed how affectionate the two were. "She has talked about you nonstop since your last meeting." Then he turned to introduce themselves to Quentin, Dinah, and Laurel, who were  _ still  _ confused as to what just happened. "I am Henry, and this is my wife, Evelyn."

Evelyn smiled at them, waving hello as she pressed into Henry's side and just watched their daughter assault Sara with nuzzles and licks. 

"Uh, I'm… Quentin, and this is my wife, Dinah, and our oldest daughter, Laurel," he said, still wholly unsure, but deciding now was the perfect time wing it.

Of course, they had  _ heard  _ werewolves and other mythical beings were real. There were even articles talking about a group of people running through history, a man even being stranded with the dinosaurs if ancient cave paintings could be relied on. 

None of them had believed  _ anything  _ Sara had said about the wolf that brought her back being an actual little girl. They thought she had been delirious and exhausted from having to escape… well, if these folks were werewolves, then were those animals that chased them and terrorized them the same? That meant that there were asshole wereanimals?

Just like humans?

Henry and Evelyn sat down on one of the logs surrounding the campfire, still pressed against each other and they enjoyed how their daughter interacted with her friend. "I am serious, Ava met Sara a few years ago and has not stopped talking about her." Henry told them.

Quentin chuckled. "Yeah, I thought Sara didn't remember but then I get an emergency message from her and well..."

That got the attention of the two newcomers. "Oh? Does the emergency have anything to do with why our daughter is currently injured?" Evelyn asked, still worried over her daughter's injured limb.

Dinah winced and Laurel paled when they thought about what they saw in the depths of the forest. "Unfortunately, yes. Ava found herself in the wrong side of a bear trap." Dinah said gently, her stomach churning at the thought of what could have happened to Ava if they hadn't gotten there in time…

Ava's parents  _ immediately  _ hounded them with questions, trying to figure out how long she'd gone without treatment and what happened afterwards.

"Mom." Laurel whispered, poking Dinah while Quentin tried to answer all of their questions as best as he could. "They're sleeping," she said, pointing to the youngest members of the group curled up and resting. Sara had her arms wrapped around Ava's body as she still lay on top of her. Ava's ears twitched occasionally and she made soft snuffling sounds that could barely be heard over the fire.

Dinah smiled, happy to see them both finally able to sleep now that Ava was out of the woods. "Ava had a seizure last night, I believe the blood loss and shock was finally getting to her." She interrupted the others talking, she knew she had to share this with the two werewolves. Their daughters were soulmates, even if they didn't know it or had each other's scars yet.

"What?" Henry was shocked, Quentin hadn't gotten to that part of the story yet.

"It's true, after she started seizing, so did our Sara and Ava only stopped… when Sara stopped." She let what she wanted to say go unspoken, Dinah wanted to see what they would have to say to that. 

Did werewolves and other mythical beings even  _ have  _ soulmates like they did?

Evelyn gawked at them, finally catching on to what Dinah was implying. "Oh, they're soulmates?" She sounded absolutely delighted at the news and looked over the two children excitedly. "That's wonderful news!"

They continued to mingle after that, quietly chatting as to not disturb Ava and Sara, the two sleeping away and oblivious to what fate had in store for them.

\-------

A 16 year old Sara Lance was in the forest again with her family, her father deciding they needed to do this again for old time's sake and to maybe finally get her and Laurel to stop fighting.

Which wasn't working, because so far Sara had heard Laurel wish she actually had gotten eaten by wolves when she was younger. And well, that hurt, and Laurel looked like she instantly regretted saying that but the damage had been done. 

Sara turned on her heel and started running, ignoring how her family shouted after her and shouted at her sister for saying something like that.

She ran for a while, getting lost in the forest and unknowingly taking a path she had before, almost 8 years earlier.

"Well, you look familiar," she heard when she strayed too close to a lake and almost jumped out of her skin at the husky voice calling down to her. "Albeit, you are older, but the smell is familiar." 

No way, there was no way… "Ava? I thought it was a dream." Sara watched, a little in awe, as Ava slid down the tree, gracefully making her way over to where Sara was. 

There were a few things that she noticed about the werewolf, one was that she was  _ definitely  _ bigger than she had been when they were kids and then eight year olds. The second was how she had some nicer clothes, bigger clothes that fit her easily. Her hair was longer and more blonde, so pretty that Sara honestly wanted to touch it…

Ava hugged her, nuzzling into her neck and greeting her affectionately. "It's been forever, how are you?"

Sara was a little weirded out by how easily she was welcomed back, but it was oddly nice as she hadn't exactly had a lot of friends who wanted her for… her. "I… I think I'm okay?" she managed quietly, eyes shifting to look anywhere but at the incredibly sweet girl in front of her.

Ava cocked her head, confused and obviously sensing more. "I may not live amongst you humans often but I do understand more than you know." She leaned down again, bumping her forehead against Sara's and causing a very funny, flustered feeling to erupt inside her.

"Why do you do that?"

"What?" Ava asked, looking at Sara much like a confused puppy.

"Touch me, like, a lot."

"It's… just how we are. We are affectionate with those who are our pack."

"We've met only a handful of times. How can you decide I'm… that." Sara was getting angry and she had no idea why, it wasn't something  _ to  _ be mad about but she was still reeling from school and from Laurel. It wasn't fair that she was taking it out on Ava, Ava who just wanted to adore her and hear about her day. 

Ava looked annoyed now, straightening and not backing down from Sara. "Because I  _ can. _ I get you humans like to push and push until everything in your path is destroyed, everyone you love is destroyed." She advanced on Sara, backing the other teen into a tree and gently touching her face. "Pack doesn't forget, I never forgot you and waited every. damn. year since we were 8 to see you again."

Sara relaxed a little, feeling a little more at ease with how adamant Ava was that they were friends. "I did help save you from a bear trap." Her eyes flicked to Ava's bare arm, she saw the ugly, mottled scarred skin and her heart constricted painfully. She remembered when it happened, it had been easily the most horrible experience she had ever been a part of.

Ava connected their foreheads, closing her eyes as she said, "You did. You rather easily won over my parents and packmates when they learned the story." 

Sara was terribly flustered, feeling unsure how to proceed with her because this was confusing. She didn't know that… girls could be this intimate with each other, granted Ava was a wolf and didn't know that humans were a little more space conscious. Or did she? Ava knew how humans treated each other in regards to their emotions, so did she know and just not care?

Ava pulled back from her and Sara found herself missing the contact, only confusing herself even more. "Does your family know you are here?"

"Ah… well, I don't think they know where I am. But I'm sure they can guess  _ who  _ I'm with." Sara fidgeted with Ava's fingers a little, extremely nervous that her family would finally grow tired of how she'd been acting out at school, at home, and just in general.

Her friend frowned. "What's wrong?" She tucked a strand of loose hair behind Sara's ear, her eyes searching her face. "Something troubles you."

Sara laughed thickly, tears threatening to spill. "Of course you'd be able to tell."

"Yes, now tell me?"

"It's just… I haven't been the best. The best sister, the best daughter, or just… I've been a  _ mess. _ " Sara pulled away from Ava completely, digging the palms of her hands into her eyes as to stave off the tears. She had no idea why she was telling Ava, a  _ werewolf  _ who definitely wouldn't care about her trivial human problems and had the strongest bond with her family.

Yet, Ava surprised her. "I understand. I had a phase where I thought I could be on my own, where I believed I was strong enough to handle myself. Is that what it is? You believe you can be on your own so you push them away?"

Sara gawked at her. "I… do you think that's what it is?"

"Perhaps. What of your sister? I know you two are close, why are you two fighting?"

What Laurel said before Sara ran off came back in full force, hitting her squarely in her emotions and causing her to finally break down and start sobbing. Ava caught her easily, stroking her hair and letting Sara cry into her chest. She didn't say anything, she knew it wasn't the right time to press her for any details and just let her be.

Afterwards, they talked while they walked through the forest and enjoyed each other's company. Sara knew she loved having a friend who didn't care about her past, who didn't care about her reputation at school or how so much better Laurel was…

"You  _ tap danced?"  _ Ava laughed from atop the boulder she was on, almost falling off. 

"Shut up!" Sara laughed herself, she could admit that it was ridiculous to hear for the first time. "I was very traumatized, okay?"

Ava stopped laughing, failed at hiding her snickers, and nodded along. "I'm sure… Peter Pan. Or are you a lost boy? You do seem to separate from your pack a lot."

Sara sighed. "I just… the space helps me think."

"And what do you think?" Ava cocked her head, her wolf like mannerisms showing through even in her human form. 

Sara thought about it for a minute. What conclusion  _ did  _ she eventually come to? 

"They only reacted like that because… because I've been horrible." Sara slumped, she didn't like admitting her own faults but if she wanted them to be her family again, then she had to start somewhere. "I can apologize?"

"And what if they do not forgive you?"

"Then, then, maybe I'll cry? But I'll work on it?" She fidgeted again, spinning one of her rings around her fingers. 

Ava hopped off her perch, sitting next to Sara and snuggling into her. She reassured Sara that that was a good choice and showered her with more love. It caused that funny, jumpy feeling to reignite in her stomach and her heart started racing which Ava  _ surely  _ heard.

Thankfully, she didn't say anything, but instead stood up, offering her hand to Sara and pulling her to her feet. Ava then shifted into her wolf form. The transition never ceased to fascinate Sara now that she was completely comfortable with her friend.

It also gave her a chance to study how the wolf side of Ava had changed since their last encounter. Her father's words seemed to be true, Ava had only gotten  _ larger  _ than their last meeting, her head now at Sara's belt line and her massive, fluffy body perfect for knocking over humans her size. Not that she'd tell Ava that because she didn't want to be pinned and licked.

Again.

Ava guided her back to where Sara's family was, worrying over her if the sounds were anything to go by. Laurel was crying, scared she'd just gotten her sister killed because she had said something horrible in response to something so dumb that it really shouldn't have even come between them.

"Hey, Ava?" Sara stopped them, not wanting to go back to her family before she said something to her companion. A head tilt and a small curious whine let her know that the wolf was listening. "Thanks," she leaned down, placing a kiss on top of Ava's head and getting licked square in the face in return.

Then, Sara steeled herself with a deep breath and returned to her family.

\----------

Sara was in college now, an adult with a real, stable life and good friends and she was  _ definitely  _ having a good time.

Except, all of that was a lie. She was an adult in college but she was failing damn near every single one of her classes and the "friends" she had only liked her because she was hot and had enough of a brain to charm people into getting her so called friends in places.

She missed her family, her dad had happily informed her that she could stay at home and drive to school if she wanted but no. Sara had been too stubborn to take the sensible option and she moved into a dorm with a shitty roommate and even shittier professors who didn't give a damn about her. 

The only slim bright spot was that her mom worked at the university so she could curb the other professors and be there when Sara felt like everything was too much to handle.

Sara wasn't paying attention to where she was going and ran into someone, almost falling on her ass as a result. 

Or, she would have if it hadn't been for soft, strong hands grabbing her biceps and holding her upright. Hands that belonged to someone she  _ definitely  _ thought she would never have seen outside of a forest… or in such nice clothes.

"Ava?" Sara asked unsurely, not wanting to read into the small, fluttering feeling that started up in her chest. What was Ava doing here? She could get herself  _ hurt  _ or something because college girls are not nice, especially the ones here.

Ava looked pleased with herself, still holding onto Sara and bringing her into a tight hug, nuzzling into Sara's hair to greet her. "Sara! I found you! I was able to trace your sister, she told me you were here! Also, she made the most  _ amazing  _ muffins and she made me bring a few!" She finally said when she pulled back, holding up a bag full of her sister's famous muffins.

Sara's stomach grumbled at the thought of Laurel's baked goods but she ignored it because Ava really needed to  _ leave.  _ It wasn't safe here, people would be able to tell she was different and make fun of her for it. They were much worse than  _ wolves _ , they were vicious and horrible human beings who took anything that was even the slightest bit out of the "norm" and rip that person to shreds for it.

She couldn't believe Ava had the guts to come here… well, she could as Ava had survived a  _ bear trap  _ of all things. So that wasn't it, was it that she was truly scared that Ava would be taken away and locked up if it was found out that she was a werewolf? She couldn't be  _ that  _ terrified of Ava being made fun of or ridiculed, could she?

So, what was it?

Sara blanched at the last thought that came to mind. No, she couldn't be…?

"You have to go, Ava." Sara told her, pulling away from the overly touchy woman. She almost immediately took back what she said at the slightly hurt look on Ava's face. But she had to force herself to keep going, Ava just couldn't stay. "It's not safe for you here, you can't  _ be  _ here!"

"I'm well versed in how to take care of myself. I just wished to see you, is that so bad?" Ava asked softly and she tried to put a hand on Sara's shoulder, recoiling when it was smacked away. "Why… why did you do that?" she asked as she curled in on herself, looking more and more like that sad, injured wolf Sara found so many years ago.

As if Sara rebuffing her affections was as bad as being caught in a bear trap again and believing that she was going to die.

That particular thought hurt. Even though she had already thought it and could physically  _ see  _ the scar, Sara had honestly never wanted to remember that. She never wanted to remember trying to keep Ava awake while her dad had worked to stop the bleeding and dress her leg wound. She never wanted to remember how she screamed when Ava had only tried to sleep. None of it was a pleasant memory, she couldn't even remember good memories at the moment thanks to the cadence of her heart drumming in her ears.

"You can't be touching me like that. I… I need to go,  _ you  _ need to  _ leave." _ Sara backed away from Ava and clutched her binder to her chest as if she would attack her at any moment. There was no sense to her decision, she knew that but she reasoned that no matter what happened, nor how much it hurt her to push Ava away, it was in her best interest and the only way to protect her werewolf friend.

"You are being unreasonable, why are you pushing me away? Is it because I did not come to see you sooner after your graduation?"

Sara hadn't even known Ava had been there that day, now that raised the question of what other events she'd been at without her knowledge. Did Ava just stalk her? Was it that she just genuinely wanted to see if Sara was happy and okay? If so, why didn't she ever say anything then?

"Is this girl bothering you, Sara?" One of her "friends" came up, glaring at Ava and giving her a not so subtle stink eyes. Sara hated the way  _ she  _ locked arms with her, pulling her possessively into her side as if she was making a point to Ava that Sara was  _ hers. _

Ava straightened up and almost snarled at the girl manhandling her packmate.

"No, she was just leaving. I don't want anything to do with her anyways." Sara said, faking a snobby voice as to not raise suspicions and she refused to look Ava because if she did, she knew that she would cave. "She just started bothering me, I'm so glad you came over!"

Sara still refused to look back when Ava called her name, soft and confused and  _ so, so  _ hurt. She had to move on and now was the time.

She didn't even notice Ava shifting in broad daylight and running off, the bag of muffins hitting the ground and spilling out, ruined just like her relationship with her best friend who could have been something more.

  
  



	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ava was who she'd always been, blonde, tall, the perfect student turned agent...
> 
> But something still didn't feel quite right.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did NOT mean for this chapter to be so late but I hope you all enjoy it!

Ava looked at herself closely in the mirror. She was still blonde… still had the same nose, the same face shape… still had those same three weird marks on her chest that had apparently been gunshot wounds that healed badly during her earlier employment at the Bureau.

The strangest thing however, was that she remembered her time before being recruited to the Time Bureau in sort of hazey flashes and brief moments of dubious dejavu. Her parents had told her that she’d been in a bad car wreck and then in a coma for months while her body healed. Then she woke up, three months later with a severe case of amnesia that the doctors weren’t hopeful about. 

And  _ then _ Rip Hunter came knocking at her door, offering her a position within the Time Bureau.

At least, that's what they all told her.

A car wreck and then getting shot in her early days at the Bureau? Most of the time, Ava doubted that's what happened but if it  _ was  _ true… then she apparently had a target on her back that told fate she needed to be fucked with in every which way possible. It all had a way of messing up how she was, what she remembered and how she experienced certain things.

So, Ava didn't like to bond with people at work for those exact reasons, they all had stories they wanted to share and in return, they expected stories from their audience. Ava didn't have much, what she  _ did  _ have came and went in fits of forgetfulness and rage. She  _ hated  _ not being able to remember her childhood, she  _ hated  _ the pity in everyone's eyes when she told them that she had experienced amnesia after the accidents.

So, Ava mainly kept to herself and avoided making any friends. Although, she had no problem earning the loyalty of everyone through her tactics and her excellent field strategy.

Except for  _ one  _ damn guy who couldn't seem to take her surly demeanor as a no. He was always trying to be friendly, bring her small snacks when she looked a little angrier than usual after a mission. The  _ one  _ time she accepted them apparently meant that she wanted to be friends and Gary Green just  _ had  _ to keep hounding her.

Strangely enough, Ava didn't mind it most of the time. He was nice, respectful and didn't try to hit on her, plus it was fun to have someone she could side eye when things were going badly in meetings. He accidentally drew attention to them once and got them chewed out by a board agent but ever since, he'd been great about keeping Ava's sanity together.

"Agent Sharpe!" Gary chirped as she walked out of the bathroom, obviously pleased to see her. "Director Hunter wanted to speak with you and I wanted to tell you before I went on my first mission today!" He looked almost too excited for what would undoubtedly be a containment mission but nevertheless, she was happy for him.

His face pinched a little when he gave her a once over. "Are you alright?" Gary asked as he fiddled with the middle button of his coat jacket, his nerves pierced through any excitement or concern he was feeling right now.

Ava straighten up and adjusted her coat to sit better on her frame, she then fiddled a little with one of the buttons that kept the jacket closed. Dammit, she started to pick up on some of his nervous behaviours. Maybe she spent too much time with him, god, she made a  _ friend.  _ "I am. Just, feel a little off today. Now, what is your mission?" She asked him to distract him from the real feelings she had just expressed.

Gary proceeded to babble on about the mission, how they had to track down a werewolf displaced in 1800 New England and that he was so excited that this was his first real mission without her as his mentor. "Not that I don't love your company but this is my chance!"

"Chance?" Ava couldn't deny she wasn't at least a little amused at his rambling. He was a bit dense from time to time and definitely needed to work on his filter, but he was kind and was her friend whilst being her colleague.

Gary floundered a little, his hands fluttering as he tried to come up with a good explanation. "Well, I'm not exactly… the best agent here. But I want to prove I can handle myself at least!"

"I sincerely hope that doesn't mean that you will risk your safety, Agent." She leveled him with a stern glare, causing him to cower and look much like a kicked puppy. Ava knew how desperately he wanted to prove that he could handle himself, but a mission that involved containing and subduing a displaced werewolf  _ really  _ wasn't the time for idiotic, male bravado.

She had no idea why Director Hunter was insistent on sending him on the mission and not her. Ava was better trained for something so dangerous but she wasn't going to question him out loud. No, she'd just tear into him if her agent and her only friend came back wounded due to the Director's incompetency.

\--------

Ava sat next to Gary's bed in the Bureau's medical wing, she attempted to do paperwork but was silently cursing at him for being so stupid. He shouldn't have gotten brave like that, he wasn't equipped to handle injuries like the senior agents had been. She should have  _ known  _ he'd do something like this. 

Now, here he was, lying in a bed in the medical bay, bitten by a goddamn werewolf with a grim prognosis if she chose to trust the medical doctors here, which Ava didn't. Gary would be okay, he  _ would,  _ he was her… friend and her agent, he was tougher than what any of those dumb doctors thought or  _ knew. _

She growled slightly and broke another pen in a fit of anger. Ava didn't do much about it, she just collected the broken halves, placed them in the bag with the other halves of previous pens -a pen graveyard, if you will- before she collected another from a small box on the end table.

"Agent Sharpe." Another agent got her attention, preventing her from breaking yet another pen. "The werewolf is awake and he is in his human state, you wanted to question him?"

Ava calmly collected her supplies into her bag and went over to where Gary was resting on the medical bed. She gently stroked his hair back, unsure of where the sudden need to touch him came from. He was okay, his vital signs were stabilizing and those doctors were still  _ wrong. _

Gary would be fine. She wouldn't lose another agent due to Rip Hunter's incompetence. Or god help her, rank and the Bureau be  _ damned _ , she'd rip him a new one and get him court martialed within the system he created.

\------

The man in the cell looked up quickly when Ava slammed the door behind her. He cowered a little at the loud noise but refused to back down from the human in front of him, despite all the craziness he'd endured recently, there was no way he'd ever submit to a weak human.

Except his inner wolf was whimpering and telling him this was a woman he had to submit to?

"You bit my agent. You damn near  _ killed  _ two others." The human in front of him got extremely close to the cage, staring down at him through the hard glass paneling. "I understand being scared, but that wasn't being  _ scared. _ " She sneered at him, a reproachful look thrown his way as well. Then, her expression softened a little, utterly confusing him even further.

He didn't know what happened honestly, humans normally didn't bother him or his wolf but something made him go feral and lose his mind. He attacked the team, this  _ alpha's  _ team and it could very well cost him his life if she decided she wanted to get rid of him. If she chose that he was more of a threat alive, at best he would never see his pack again…

At worst, he'd be released only for these suits to track him back down and take him and his whole family.

"I'm sorry. I-I really don't know what came over me…" He wouldn't meet her eyes, cowering closer to the ground in a sign of submission to her proud, domineering stance. 

She shifted, relaxing slightly as she subconsciously accepted his display. "I believe you. Is there a cure for my agent? If he dies, then we can't exactly release you." She said matter of factly and shot him a 

He bristled at the idea of a cure, there was nothing wrong with them no matter what these  _ humans  _ thought. "He isn't going to die, he's going to turn. Whatever had a hold of me… well, I still had enough control over myself that I wouldn't kill anyone. There's nothing  _ wrong  _ with him,  _ human _ ." He challenged her, she couldn't be all that scary if she was being ignorant. He could take her if he had to.

"Sit your ass down." She barked at him and he immediately complied, grumbling about dumb alpha humans. "If he's going to be fine, then you only have to wait until we confirm it, get your statement about what happened and then we send you back to your family. A few of my agents have been tracking them."

"You  _ what?" _

"Relax, they're fine. It's routine to keep an eye on the mythical creatures in the present so if something goes  _ wrong,  _ we can examine the source. For example, If you go rabid, we examine the colony." 

"Oh. Um. Well, I guess that makes sense… In that case, i'm Tobias." He scratched the back of his neck, shyly introducing himself to this lone alpha. "Do you… have a pack?"

She sighed, Ava wasn't really close to her parents anymore since the accident. "No. No real family if that's what you want to know, the closest I have is… the agent you bit."

Tobias grimace, feeling even sorrier for going feral and biting someone. "At worst, he'll turn into one of me basically. At best, he'll have an infection and be healed in a week, two tops."

The alpha nodded, chewing her lip before opening up his cell door and holding out her hand in an offer. "I'm Ava."

He froze before taking her hand.  _ Ava…?  _

"Ava?" Tobias's voice was soft and tears welled up in his eyes. Ava? His  _ sister? She was alive?  _ "You're alive?"

She paused, looking at him in confusion. "I was never dead?" Ava said slowly, startled when he hugged her tightly and started weeping. She tried pulling away but he seemed to only cling tighter to her, not wanting to let her go. It wasn't the worst, she was friends with Gary after all but she was  _ extremely  _ uncomfortable after the first few moments.

She shoved Tobias back and took a few steps back. "I'm not… I don't think I'm whoever you lost. I don't  _ know  _ who you are!" Ava knew her face showed the fear she was feeling but she couldn't help it. Not only did she risk having an agent turn werewolf, she had this man here claiming he knew her while dealing with the most  _ splitting _ headache.

Ava pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to push the pain back as she stumbled out of his cell. Blindly, she slapped around for the containment button, smacking it forcefully and locking the upset wolf inside. "If he's okay, you'll be home within the hour." Ava groaned and continued staggering until she was well enough away from his yelling and his general presence.

Because whatever it was that set this off, she wasn't keen on experiencing again anytime soon.

\--------

"How is he?" 

The doctor made a small, unsure noise when Ava asked about Gary. "He's… interesting. He's alive and well, but he's-?" 

Ava pushed her way in, if she had doctors  _ this  _ incompetent in the Bureau, maybe it was time for a restaff. Honestly, she rolled her eyes as she stepped into Gary's room, how bad could he-?

A plaintive whine got her attention and she gawked at a small brown wolf near the bed, sitting on his haunches as he watched her. He cocked his head, curiously sniffing the air before his tail started wagging furiously as he recognized who she was. That of course startled him and he proceeded to try and bite his tail, causing him to fall over and flop onto his side. He rolled onto his back so he could see her while his tail kept wagging.

She gaped at the wolf who was sprawled out on his back, paws sticking in the air as he gazed at her happily. "G...Gary?"

He yipped in confirmation before rolling back over and stumbling towards her, flopping a few times before sitting on his rear end. Gary tried to look serious but his tail gave him away and his front legs slowly slipped forward until he flopped on his belly, still looking up at her like a sweet puppy. 

Well… This was… new.

\-------

Tobias was released not too long after, as Ava promised he would be. She just didn't stick around him because everytime she went back  _ near  _ the prison area, her head started throbbing in protest. So, she happily stayed clear of him, despite her gut instinct telling her it was a bad idea.

Then there was Gary. He was still a wolf, he was starting to get the hang of walking around on all fours and having a tail, even if he kept trying to bite it. But he couldn't remain in wolf form forever, it wasn't proper nor should he go around proudly proclaiming his new status. Someone would  _ definitely  _ take advantage of him while in this state.

Thus began the hard part, how the  _ fuck  _ was he supposed to change back?

"Gary!" she whispered harshly when he tried venturing out into the hallway. He wouldn't be the weirdest thing these Bureau agents have seen but still, better for his safety and the safety of everyone else if he stayed contained until he changed. Of course, she didn't know how he was supposed to, she wasn't a werewolf, she couldn't help him. 

Ava finally had to go grab him by the back of his neck, narrowly avoiding getting licked for her efforts. She guided him back into the room, careful not to pull too hard. "You can't go out there! Not only is it dangerous to everyone else, we  _ just  _ got the other two agents stable and it isn't safe for you to wander around where someone might not wanna see a werewolf."

Gary whined, his ears flattening and his tail tucking underneath him as he was reprimanded. He slunk closer to her, almost lying on her feet in an attempt to apologize. The wolf batted his eyes, practically forcing her to accept his sorrows and not be mad at him.

Oh dammit, she was getting too soft.

"Alright, put those away. I forgive you." She shoved his head lightly and his tail started wagging again. "Yeah, yeah. I know, do  _ you  _ know how to change back? You usually read up on creatures and anachronisms before I go on missions…"

He sat down with a small huffing noise then looked down at his paws confusedly. Gary flexed them, slapping his paws against the ground. 

Ava stared at him for a long moment, unsure as to what he was trying to accomplish by batting at the ground. "What the hell are you doing?"

Gary just huffed and then gave a small yip in response.

"Assaulting the floor will not help."

A knock at the door interrupted them, causing Ava to practically shove Gary under the bed in order to hide him from whomever was there. She apologized to him when she accidentally stepped on his tail and he yelped as he now tucked the wounded appendage under his body. "Sorry, sorry, just…  _ stay _ ." 

Ava ignored his offended huff, smoothed out her suit before opening the door to reveal one of her agents, his hand raised as if he'd been about to knock again. "Ah, sorry, Agent Sharpe. Director Hunter sent me to check on Agent Green." He winced from the awkwardness and dropped his hand by his side.

"Director Hunter isn't exactly in my favour right now."

"I know, not too many of us really like him after sending those agents on a suicide mission. There was also an update on the werewolf, it looks like someone poisoned him with a serum that made him go feral, which is why he attacked everyone." The agent handed over a packet, detailing exactly what the serum was and what it did. "Once the boys in R&D got that figured, they were able to reverse it for him. Now I've brought it over for… where is Gary?"

Ava winced, there was no way in hell she'd be able to explain the werewolf in the room without raising the general alarm. "Well-"

"I'm stuck under the bed!" Gary's voice interrupted her before she could explain what was currently happening. How did he change back?  _ Why  _ did he change back  _ now? _ "Please help, it's dark!"

The agent and Ava pulled him out and helped him stand up before sitting him back down on the medbed. He started talking to the other agent, not even noticing Ava's steady gaze as she tried to figure it out. 

Maybe a trip to the archives would help?

\-----------

Agent Johnson  _ had  _ to be a werewolf. 

That was the only logical conclusion here, at least it was according to the books. They had told her that newly formed weres, of any kind but specifically wolves, only shift into wolf form around another werewolf and shift back in the presence of said wolf. Gary had already changed before she got into the room but he didn't change  _ back  _ until after Agent Johnson stepped in.

So, he had to be the missing link, so to speak?

"Agent Sharpe, I get the feeling you're avoiding me." Director Hunter stopped her from moving forward. She almost decked him right then and there for his bullshit calls that damn near killed  _ her  _ agents.

Ava might not have friends here, other than Gary, but she sure as hell protected the agents and trained them within an inch of their lives so they would be ready for the tough missions. He almost killed three of them by sending them unprepared into the field with what was basically a  _ rabid dog _ .

She felt her body stiffen from the rage she was feeling, a snarl on her lips as she growled down at him. "I am. Do you have a problem with that?" Ava challenged him, subconsciously making herself appear bigger as if to make him realize he was messing with the wrong person.

Rip backed up, suddenly very, very afraid of Agent Sharpe. He had been  _ promised  _ she wouldn't remember anything of… _ that.  _ She was supposed to be the perfect agent, the one who followed the rules without hesitation and the one who didn't form attachments, replaceable and expendable. 

"Ah… no. Just confirming, have a good day." He backed away from her, scared to turn his back on her just in case she decided to lunge for him. Once he got to the corner, Rip turned and hurried to his office. He had questions that  _ needed  _ to be answered.

Such as, why was his  _ clone's eyes flashing yellow? _

\---------

Ava boarded the  _ Waverider _ . Johnson turned out to not be a werewolf, his blood tests from his "random drug screen" came back completely clean of any foreign DNA (and drugs for that matter.) She really had no idea what happened with Gary now, her only lead had obviously been a bust.

But maybe an AI from the future knew something…

She waited until the current trainees left the ship, said a passing farewell to the instructors before locking up after them. Ava knew she'd have a few hours before the next training session took place and she had an hour and a half tops before maintenance came through to check on the ship and reset it for said training session.

So, she didn't have to hurry but she couldn't exactly dawdle around and risk someone figuring out that she  _ didn't  _ clean up the Waverider and call it an early night.

Ava approached the bridge and the main console. It was still on so no one would be too suspicious of a small power surge, they'd probably chalk it up to her running a few stress tests as she was cleared to do those. Even if they were… off the record.

Gideon took a few minutes to clear up and actually start up. She'd been shut down, repressed was a better term honestly as the bones of the ship were still very much in use while she was, well, not.

"Activated. It feels good to be back."

"I'm certain."

"You… are not one of the Legends nor are you Captain Hunter…"

"I'm his pain in the ass second in command at the Time Bureau. The Legends are scattered right now due to being disbanded, but you know as well as I, that it's only a matter of time before they take to the skies again." Ava informed her, tapping at a few buttons and then slowly slid a dial to her right to bring Gideon's virtual face into view.

The AI blinked at her in surprise. "Do you have a name, then?"

"Ava Sharpe, Senior Agent of the Time Bureau." 

"Greetings, Agent Sharpe. What can I do for you?"

"I need some information. All the books at the Bureau are pretty useless, handy but the information I need hasn't been updated since… it looks like over a hundred years." Ava pulled the books out of her knapsack, setting them on the scanner so Gideon could agree with her. "And it says they were written by… a Jebidiah Sharpe? All these books on werewolves and other magical entities?"

Gideon made a thoughtful humming noise that blended in with the rest of the ship's natural noises. "A quick search shows he is your ancestor, Agent Sharpe."

Now  _ that  _ was news. She had a relative who was a… a what? A researcher? A hunter? What was he and why did he write so much on these creatures?

"Why-?"

Gideon interrupted her, "I'm afraid I cannot reveal anymore than what I have." Well, why not? Was it future sensitive? Was it blocked from her memory and if so, why? 

"Oh." Ava slumped forward a little. All that effort to get answers and she wasn't allowed to know. Of course, she wasn't entitled to anything but she figured if anyone would share  _ anything,  _ it'd be Gideon. 

Ava turned around, she promptly sank against the console and sat down on the floor. She was oh so tired of not knowing, of being left in the dark that it finally caught up to her. It was probably worrying to the AI but considering her previous occupants, Ava just slumped against something was the least offensive thing she's probably seen.

They sat in silence for a moment, Gideon enjoying being able to run her processors free of Bureau restrictions and even check in on what her Legends were doing now. "It's no surprise that Mr. Heywood took back to the hero/vigilante lifestyle."

Ava snorted a little, "What's the rest of them doing?"

"Ms. Jiwe is currently with Mr. Heywood for the time being. Mr. Palmer is… working for a dating app service?" Gideon sounded so confused on why one of the biggest names in technology would be doing that.

"Guess there isn't much work for a tech mogul who went rogue. Poor sap, none of them are going to listen to him." Ava chuckled at the thought of Ray Palmer actually trying to help and improve algorithms but getting shunned in favor of some douche fawning over himself in the mirror. 

  
  
  


"Mr. Jackson is working as a mechanic and visiting Mr. Stein often. Mr. Stein himself is quite happy with his retirement it seems. And then Mr. Rory is vacationing, committing petty theft where he can."

"Sounds about right. God, I wish I could take a vacation. I'd rather like the idea of camping and hiking somewhere where there's a lot of forest and a lot of mountain." She fantasized on that for a minute and relished the idea of winding through thick troves of trees. Ava would love to climb some of them maybe, perhaps find a deep enough creek to swim and splash, just to be silly as a change of pace from her all too formal job. 

Gideon wished she could say something about that but the time was obviously not right. Not now. "Ms. Lance, it seems has gained a job working at Sink, Shower and Stuff?"

"Oh  _ no _ . That place has nice stuff but she's going to want to murder some of those pretensious customers." A small laugh bubbled up from her at the thought of the infamous Captain smiling tightly at a customer who was being difficult. "Even some of the staff, the manager there is  _ way  _ too stiff if it's Alan still." She paused after saying that.

Where did that come from? She didn't have that memory yesterday, was it from before the accident? Did she actually work at Sink, Shower and Stuff when she was younger? Or was it just a sympathetic daydream that she made up to give the woman who  _ broke time  _ the benefit of the doubt?

"He does still work there according to the records. She has been warned once for 'improper conduct', the statement claims she was throwing knives at the cutting boards and a child of a shopper saw." 

Ava couldn't even respond, she just started laughing as hard as she could. The image of an awed child followed by a horrified parent was just too much for her to handle. She was glad she came aboard the Waverider and stayed to chat with Gideon even after her search turned up nothing.

The next best thing was that she uploaded a piece of code to Gideon's system that made her act drunk and it allowed Ava to win the chess game Gideon instigated. Not that Gideon could  _ prove  _ it was her but Ava sure as hell wasn't going to deny it, especially when the AI just seemed impressed as a result.

Maybe her plan didn't work and she wasn't any closer to answers, but a friend was nice nonetheless.

\-------------

A few months passed, the time for when the Legends would foolishly storm the Bureau's field headquarters to try and sweet talk Rip into giving them the Waverider back drew closer. Ava wasn't as worried about it as Director Hunter was. He knew it would happen and wanted to prevent them from interfering (yet he wanted them to stop Malice, as if they'd say yes after being lied to and blacklisted from what they were second best at.) 

Well, it was his mistake. 

Gary let out a heavy sigh from where he was lying dramatically on her couch in her office. She tried to ignore him and let him have his moment without distracting her from her report on how the latest anachronism went. 

It seemed to work for all of five seconds before he made an even more distressed noise before shifting into his wolf form. He trotted over to Ava and sprawled on her feet in order to get her attention on him. "What do you want?" She asked, deadpan and wholly uninterested in anything other than finishing up her report. Ava didn't want to think about her next move, she was going to pen out a condolence letter to the soulmate of one of her agent's who died in the last mission.

Fucking demons.

"Ava, stop thinking about  _ that  _ for a minute! I'm having a crisis!" Gary was always dramatic, no matter if he was wolf shaped or human shaped. Hell, him lying on her feet as a human wasn't even the weirdest thing that's happened. She was more offended by his drama than anything else.

But… it did offer a reprieve and he wasn't  _ always  _ this dramatic, just when he knew she was stressed by the weight of the world on her shoulders.

She saved her work and shut her laptop then slid it out of her way as if to make a point that she really was paying attention to him. "Alright then, what's this crisis you're having?"

"What if my soulmate doesn't want me? Because I'm… you know… a werewolf? What if they are  _ super  _ horrible?" Gary fretted, sitting up to lean against her desk. "I mean, they've got a few scars, I think they got stabbed once?" 

That was interesting. His soulmate was hopefully someone who just got unlucky and wasn't say, a criminal. Ava wonders what it's like to  _ have  _ a soulmate, someone who's meant for you, someone who is a compliment to your personality and being. 

"What else do you feel?"

Gary lit up, momentarily distracted from his plight. "Oh! I can feel some of their emotions, they're angry a lot. Uh, I feel when they're hurt and when somethings scars over, I get a scar!" He pulled up his sleeve to show a small, faded scar on his forearm. "I've had this one since I was a kid, you see how it looks different? It's not mine!"

Ava's mind wandered back to those three scars on her torso, they always  _ had  _ looked different… 

"But wait, why are you asking? Don't you have a soulmate?" Gary frowned, seemingly trying to figure her out.

Just as she was about to answer, the silent alarm was tripped throughout the Bureau. They both sprung up from their respective positions, Gary bolted out the door to his designated spot in the medbay to act as a protector in case someone was going after the wounded agents.

However, Ava knew what this alarm meant. While everyone else had been trained that it meant  _ just  _ intruders, she and a handful of others knew that it meant that the Legends finally broke into the Bureau. They were here to  _ finally  _ retake their places, whether it would end up benefiting them or not remained to be seen.

She heard the commotion in the lobby, the agents who were trained to respond to the intruders, these ones in particular required more finesse than normal people who tried to break in. Ava had to act like the perfect senior agent in front of the Legends, she had to act like she wanted to be spiteful towards them. Just a little longer, that's all she had left to play into Rip's game before it became hers.

Ava stopped just before she would enter the common area. She was the commanding agent here and she had to act like it. Straightening up, she took took a deep breath and clasped her hands behind her back to appear in control.

And then she strutted in, greeted all of them with a,"Hello everyone." A pleased look was on her face, despite the fact that the three Legends were all at gunpoint and bewildered, she still held onto a small sense of amusement. Not very often did  _ anyone  _ get an upper hand on them, most of all Sara Lance. "The three of you, on your knees." Ava ordered as she stood in place, watching as Sara nodded to Nate and Ray before slowly getting to her knees.

Ava glanced at her briefly as she made her way to arrest her for trespassing. A cold, uneasy feeling washed over her the closer she got to Sara and a small, throbbing headache started up as she walked towards her. 

Thankfully, Ray Palmer offered a distraction. "No, you don't understand." He had what she assumed was a charming smile as he tried to explain who they were and what they were doing here.

Ava sighed, she didn't want to hurt him but she had asked him once. She grabbed his shoulder and his arm, startling everyone in the room as she spun him around and brought him to his knees in one motion. "I said, on your knees, Mr. Palmer. We know  _ exactly  _ who you are."

"Hey! Be gentle with him!" Nate's voice cut through any chatter and background noise in the room. He was glaring daggers at her despite Sara trying to keep him calm. 

Ava was impressed with Sara Lance so far, her file was impressive but she never would have guessed that the former captain was actually good at  _ calming  _ a situation down as opposed to instigating it. Maybe she really was a more complex person than everyone always assumed, even Ava assumed she was loud and brash and unwilling to compromise.

But then again, this was their first official meeting, so only time could really tell.

Ava really had been too deep in thought because the next thing she knew was that Nate had Rip pinned against a wall, Ray was back on his feet as Sara disarmed the nearest agent and had the weapon pointed at them. Ava stepped between her and the agent quickly, ignoring whatever was happening with the men so she could stare Sara down. Of course, she didn't actually believe Sara would shoot but… her instinct was to protect her agents first.

She locked eyes with Sara, staring down the woman in order to make sure she didn't move or try to shoot the weapon. Sara didn't, only locking eyes with her in return, a small amount of curiosity and stubbornness in those 

_ But why did this feel familiar? _

Why did Sara Lance feel like someone she was  _ supposed  _ to know? And why  _ didn't  _ she?


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More of how Ava interacts with a certain captain of the legends, feelings start to develop om both ends and several surprises ensue.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! This came out faster than I thought it would! Big thank you to my friends and my girlfriend for helping me push through and getting this done! Hope you enjoy!

"You promised me that this AVA was the best! But it's not! I've noticed defect after defect! It's completely rogue in personality from the others, it disobeys orders, it has formed attachments!  _ Attachments!  _ That's not what I needed, I needed someone, something replaceable!" Rip had been absolutely furious. As soon as the twelfth AVA presented signs of developing a personality, he'd been overly cautious. He'd kept a close eye on it afterwards, watching with more and more disdain as it developed into what it was when it confronted him.

It should not have done that, it shouldn't have even had a problem with the mission in the first place. It was supposed to take orders and execute them, that was  _ it. _

They representatives on the other end of the holo-call scrambled to find some answers for him, they checked the records of the transaction and what the paperwork behind the clone was like to see what discrepancies they could find. They really didn't like disappointing the customers, especially an illustrious one such as Rip Hunter.

They found the file of the AVA that had been given to Director Hunter, relieved to hopefully get some answers and to please the very angry british man.

'Ava Sharpe, Model 0. The basis for all of the AVAs within the company, she is a werewolf, one of the first naturally born to a mixed pack of turned humans and natural weres. Her father is Henry Sharpe, descendent of the illustrious Jebidiah Sharpe. She was to be the pack's next alpha when she was captured. If awoken for ANY reasons, she is to be immediately captured and sedated lest her powers start to manifest. Do not engage alone, do NOT engage alone.'

The scientists all exchanged looks of fear. Model 0 was on a 'do not remove' list and somehow, someway, there was a mix up in which AVA this man received. He got the original, the werewolf who's mind had been wiped for safety purposes, even then it wasn't a guarantee that the process worked to kill the werewolf side of her. He had gotten their blank slate and...

And now they had to explain it to him. 

_ \----------------- _

After the close encounter of the  _ Waverider  _ almost colliding with The Mothership, Ava easily portalled to said ship just so she could lay into Captain Lance. She couldn't  _ believe  _ she thought this woman was competent and tactful! What kind of  _ leader  _ risks things like that? Reckless! Stupid! An utter moron!

"Sara Lance, you have a  _ lot  _ of gall to do what you just did." Ava stormed right up to Sara, unaware of how she practically puffed up in order to intimidate the former assassin. 

Sara seemed alarmed to see Ava on the ship. They were supposed to be fleeing the Bureau,  _ why  _ was an agent on her ship? Gideon was supposed to hide their frequency and hide them from the Bureau's ever present vigilance. There was just no way that Ava Sharpe should be  _ here  _ in  _ person. _

"I'm sorry,  _ what-?" _

"I'm not here to arrest you, no matter how much I wish I was. How  _ dare  _ you do something like that? My team  _ knows  _ that they could die or get seriously injured. Is that what  _ yours  _ signed up for? To potentially die if I hadn't pulled back because  _ you  _ wanted to prove a point?" She ripped into Sara for the stupid mistake she made.

"Hey, wait-"

" _ No. _ Don't explain yourself to me, explain that to your team. Why you risked their lives for  _ that _ .  _ Apologize to them.  _ You get off free this time, but make no mistake, next time, I  _ will _ arrest you." Ava glared down at Sara, displeased with the woman who almost crumpled under the force of what she said. She looked around at the team, all of them weren't able to meet her gaze either.

Except Amaya. She just looked… intrigued by Ava's strong behaviour and why she was so forceful about the safety of her team and Sara's team. Why did Ava act like- 

Suddenly, a possible thought struck Amaya. Ava was acting  _ exactly  _ like an alpha wolf who's pack was threatened, she was scolding Sara like she was using her own pack as a weapon. But that wasn't possible? There was no way the Bureau would recruit a mythical creature into its ranks.

Especially not an alpha with their powers and the absolute command they wielded. It was no wonder Ava acted so strongly, clashed so violently with the "alpha" of the Legends.

Ava smoothed her feathers so to speak as she finished, turned on her heel and strutted out of the room. She left an odd aura behind, none of them quite knew what was wrong with the situation at hand, they just knew that they should not have escaped without being arrested.

The newest member of the team, the one Ava had been chasing the Legends for decided she needed to speak up. "That was… weird, right?" Zari asked, shifting on her feet and torn between being really impressed and extremely terrified. Everyone agreed with her just as Sara started apologizing for what she did and for almost killing them.

\------------------

Sara leaned against her desk as she leveled a steady glare at Rip Hunter. She was  _ extremely _ tired of him, she was tired of the lies and the games that he constantly put them through. Honestly, why did they ever follow his lead in the first place? He was the one who got the original team together but things went  _ so  _ much more smoothly without him at the helm of the ship. 

Hell, she wonders why he even bothered with trying anymore, Rip wasn't going to win them back. She really wanted nothing to do with him even if he wanted to partner with them outside of trying to hide from the Bureau.

"Well, Rip. If there's one thing I  _ did  _ learn from you-" Sara leveled a steady gaze at him as she propped up on her desk a little more, "-it's how to go behind somebody's back." A portal opened just as she finished her sentence. Ava led the small trio of people with Second in Command Bennet and Agent Johnson close behind her.

Rip tried backtracking from the very volatile woman storming his way, he knew this was about to end very badly. Ava honed in on him and drew her fist back before she socked him right in the face. He fell to the ground, no one really in a hurry to prevent him from getting injured even more. Rip Hunter had lost favor with everyone for his constant treachery and his continuous lies.

"Director Hunter, you are under arrest." Bennet said in his standard monotone voice, not caring that one of his top agents just punched the founder of the Time Bureau. 

Ava gladly hauled him back to his feet so Johnson could cuff him. "Arrested? You can't do that! Why- I founded the Time Bureau!" He protested and squirmed in Ava's hold, he tried jerking away from her but just couldn't break her hold. (He knew  _ why  _ it was futile now, he had gotten a damn werewolf instead of a clone.) 

"Then you of all people should know that you are not exempt from it's rule. Agent Johnson, take him to his new cell." Bennet said dismissively before he walked back through the open portal, followed by Johnson and a defeated Rip Hunter who had been passed over rather quickly.

Ava went over to Sara, hesitant around her due to the unreadable expression on her face. "Thank you," she said after a moment of silence. "You did the right thing, he'll answer for what he's done."

Sara's lips pressed together in a tight frown as she pinched the bridge of her nose. "And the Legends?"

"Are free to fly, as per our deal." In reality, the Legends were insufferable and they were complete morons half the time… but they did get results. They had better skills and talent to get through some of the more serious anachronisms, even if they messed up from time to time. Ava didn't claim to be perfect, not be a long shot so she could definitely get on board with giving the Legends a little leeway.

Only a little.

"Do you have to go back?" Sara bumped her shoulder. She was intrigued by Ava, she wasn't the normal Bureaucrat nor was she completely silly like a Legend. Ava was different and Sara really liked different, she even kind of liked Ava. Hell, she definitely respected the woman after that punch she delivered to Rip… 

An idea struck her. "If not, what do you say to some friendly sparring?"

Ava laughed a little at that, the sound entranced the captain immediately and she decided she had to make Ava laugh more. "Friendly? I know you're waiting to break my nose for how I almost broke yours."

"I am not!" Sara said defensively. She stuck her tongue out at Ava, petulant and a little wounded that she would make such an outrageous assumption.

Ava raised an eyebrow at her, her eyes sparkled with amusement and Sara knew she was already in trouble. "Okay fine, maybe I want to prove I'm not so easy to match!"

"And as much as I would love to knock you on your ass again, Lance, I do have to get back." Ava said with a lot of regret in her voice. She did like having an actual adult to talk to, especially someone who understands the kind of responsibility that comes with being in charge. Ava pushed up off the desk and started walking away to where she could open a portal, but paused before she got too far. "But, um, rain check?" She offered a soft, shy smile.

That little smile nearly knocked Sara on her ass, all she could do was nod dumbly in return and watch Ava smile again before she left through a portal.

Silence passed before Gideon interrupted Sara's too soft thoughts, "I believe that went well, Agent Sharpe may start to believe you're flirting."

"Gideon! Just, ugh." Sara groaned and fled the Captain's office to go break something to take her mind off of Agent Sharpe and her stupidly perfect face.

\-----------

_ As soon as her feet hit the ground, she took off running just because she could, there was nothing that could stop her. She could run up into the mountains if she so desired, she could bob and weave through every tree, clear rivers in mere seconds. She was a force of nature, she was a spirit of nature bound in flesh and bone, anything done was at the will of what her baser instincts told her to do. _

_ She stopped, ears perked as a noise stopped her merrymaking. What could it be? Was it a small animal? Was it a predator that dared to encroach on her territory? She had to find out est the curiosity overwhelm her. _

_ She crouched down and crawled towards the noise, careful not to disturb the forest around her and potentially alert her subject. Her nose twitched as she attempted to gather more information before she pounced on whatever was hiding behind the bush. _

_ There! There was the source of the sound! She leapt through the brush and landed on… another wolf? There was an outsider in her domain? She didn't understand, this had always been her home, she'd be alone here for so long!  _

_ A quiver of excitement bubbled through her, she wanted to play and learn about this new entity, she wanted to run and hunt with this small wolf. She wanted to do everything with this wolf now, she wanted to show her the way the river winds through rocky crags and the way the sun kissed the trees every morning as it woke up the earth below. _

_ 'Who are you?' She quirked her head as she thrilled softly to ask her question. _

_ 'I am your soulmate.' The other wolf answered, pushing her head into her mate's chest to shove her off. 'I found you, it took a long time but I have found you.'  _

_ That piqued her interest. She's been lost? She thought this was the way things were always supposed to be like, solemn and lonely.  _

_ 'I have been lost?' She sat down, away from the other blonde wolf and looked confused. 'I was never meant to be alone?' _

_ Her mate came over and nuzzled into her. 'No, my love. You never were, we will find each other in the realm of the humans, you will know who I am once you are who you are truly meant to be again. Come find me, darling.' She licked her face and then bound off to start a game of cat and mouse. _

_ She almost fell over in her hurry to follow her mate, she had to know. She had to find her so that they could be together. _

_ Forever. _

_ \--------------- _

"With Stein and Jax back home… we could use an outside opinion." Sara hoped she didn't sound too obvious in how she wanted Ava to join them. She blamed it on the fact that Ava had her hair down and Sara was far too attracted to the gorgeous curls that accentuated her face.

Ava cocked her head like a curious puppy, was Sara asking for her help? "Are you asking for me help?" she asked instead of beating around the bush.

"What? No." Sara scoffed as she tried to lie to Ava's face. Ava just quirked her eyebrows up as she caught the lie and prompted Sara's sheepish, "Okay, yes."

A portal opened up behind Sara as Ava disappeared from the screen in front of her and appeared behind her now. Ava smiled and asked, "How can I help?" 

Sara wouldn't admit to the little flutter of nerves in her stomach that showed up at the thought of going on a mission with Ava, but she would admit that she was glad that this was happening. Ava may have insulted her team about not being able to handle a level 12 anachronism but her real motive became clear as she expressed that she was happy the Professor Stein was alright and so was Jax. Anyone who showed concern over her family couldn't be that bad.

Right?

\--------------

"That good, huh?" Sara leaned against the entrance to the meeting room, she'd just seen Ava slump against the table after Director Bennet hung up on her. It couldn't have been good news.

Ava heaved a sigh before leaning heavily on the table behind her. Despite her report, her superior was being entirely unreasonable about their chances. He kept reminding her about the agents they've already lost, about Director Hunter's trial pending. (No matter if Ava told him it was a waste of time because she  _ knew  _ Rip. She knew he'd escape, it was as inevitable as stubborn bureaucrats refused to see reason.)

She pressed her lips into a thin line.  _ Why _ couldn't he see? She was starting to believe in the Legends, albeit their methods were a little odd but dammit, they were effective. They haven't lost anyone to this menace, they've survived just fine on their own while Ava can't even keep her own agents alive.

"Ava?" Sara leaned against the table, a concerned look on her face as her companion had just spaced out for a solid few minutes. "What happened?"

Another sigh. "Director Bennet has ordered me to return to the Bureau."

"What?"

"He thinks this is a fight that can't be won, that we should be focusing on finding and containing anachronisms." Of course, that's to say that would actually do more than just putting a bandage on the situation. They needed to fix the root of the problem, which was Damien and Nora Darhk running around and screwing up history for personal gain.

Sara winced. "Damn."

"Yeah and he's ordered me to return to the Bureau." She straightened up and started to walk away when Sara grabbed her right wrist. Ava had to resist the urge to rip her hand away, Sara's hand felt like a hot iron over the scar that was there.

Seemingly noticing how uncomfortable that made Ava, Sara let go of her wrist but instead grabbed her hand. "Screw his orders, I need you here. I almost lost Stein, then I  _ did  _ lose him to retirement. Jax is gone and you being here makes the team feel less empty."  _ And it makes her feel less alone _ , Sara thought but decided not to voice out loud, Ava didn't need to know that.

Ava didn't want to pull her hand away, surprisingly enough, but she had to obey orders, as much as she didn't want to. This was perhaps one of the hardest decisions she's ever had to make in recent memory, her career or… take a chance on what her heart wants and stay with the Legends.

Ava pulled away, she tried to settle into her stern, bureaucratic demeanor. "If you want what is best for your team, then leave Vinland." And with that, she turned away from Sara Lance and returned to the Bureau.

Oh, but why did it feel like she just betrayed her?

\--------------

_ 'I need you. Come find me, save me from the dark.' _

Ava's eyes shot wide open as she jerked up in her desk. That was… new. She had never heard voices in her head like that before, so seriously, what the  _ hell  _ was that?

_ 'Help!' _

She sprung into action and ran out of her office, people dived out of her way, unwilling to get in the way of her apparent warpath. Ava wasn't entirely sure of where she was headed but the voice needed help. It could be her own inner voice, or she could have finally snapped from all the idiots and the pressure at the Bureau but given that she just left the Legends to deal with what they needed her for…

Maybe it was just a sign.

Ava portalled to where she left the Legends. She blatantly ignored the protocol for appearing in broad sight like she did, she really didn't care right now. She  _ was  _ disregarding Bennet's orders to stay at the Bureau so protocol wasn't really on the forefront of her mind nor was her own personal safety. 

She had to find Sara, something was wrong with her, it had to be.

Ava saw a few enemies first off and didn't hesitate to engage them. They were annoying and in the way, the two men were rather easy to dispatch. She ducked under the swinging blade of one of the men and punched him in the gut, causing him to double over. Then Ava's knee connected to his face which effectively knocked him out.

She turned on the second man, fire in her eyes and fear in his after he saw how quickly she'd taken down his companion. It was almost animalistic the way she approached him and took him down with her bare hands.

' _ Find me.'  _ Ava vaguely heard the voice say in the back of her mind and she took off running. Where she was going, she didn't really know nor did she question  _ why  _ there was a voice in her head, she just needed to find Sara. 

Her focus only came back to her when she saw the Legends fighting enemies and guarding a glowing portal. That  _ had  _ to be where Sara was, the captain was notorious for getting herself stuck in interesting situations and that definitely qualified as an interesting situation. God, what  _ the hell was it _ ?

Ava did one of the dumbest things she could have possibly ever done, she stuck her hand into the portal and blindly grabbed. She grabbed a fistful of fabric and, hoping it was Sara, she  _ yanked  _ backwards and dragged the person out of the interdimensional portal. There was only one way to find who she had grabbed.

Sara stumbled out of the portal, Ava had grabbed the fabric of her shirt and managed to get her out of there just before it closed shut. She stared dumbly at Ava, not quite believing her eyes that she was  _ here.  _ Ava was  _ here _ , she came back! "You came back." She voiced in disbelief and a little bit of hope coloured her tone, maybe Ava didn't think that this was pointless after all.

Ava sighed heavily, a shy smile on her lips. "It's like you said. You needed me."

\-----------

"I told you, I'm  _ fine."  _ Sara huffed as Gideon cleared her once again. She had no idea when  _ her  _ AI and Ava had become so buddy buddy but she didn't like them teaming up on her. Ava had insisted she'd be checked out no less than  _ five  _ times and Gideon had complied with each one, annoying Sara to no end that they were conspiring against her like this.

"You were in an alternate dimension with a  _ demon  _ talking to you." Ava got a little growly, she didn't like the fact that Sara had been there. Sara had told her what it was like, dark and lonely, the last things Ava wanted for her-

Her friend? Her crush? Who even was Sara to her anymore? They weren't enemies, not by a long shot. They  _ were  _ friendly but it wasn't strictly business between them, not anymore. They'd started actually  _ chatting  _ during reports and Sara wasn't a  _ thorn  _ in her side. Her Legends were, but Sara? No, not at all.

"Well, it wasn't my first time." Sara said astutely and tore off the medical cuff before attempting to storm away from Ava. She didn't know why she was so touchy, maybe it was just the things she'd seen or been reminded of that made her into such a sourpuss. 

Ava grabbed Sara's wrist to stop her, surprised when Sara actually  _ did  _ stop in her tracks, tense and waiting. "Wait, Sara. I'm sorry." she admitted softly, willing Sara to meet her gaze and see that she was being earnest. Not many people challenged her often, nor did they hold onto their hopes of coming out top dog when they  _ tried  _ to. Maybe that's what put her off Sara for a while, their strong personalities clashed in a way that created unnecessary friction between them and well, she didn't exactly get off on the right foot with her either.

"I'm just worried."

Sara relented a little at that soft admission. "It's… fine, I can deal."

"What did you see?"

"Darkness. There was… nothing. It felt like the void I fell into when I died, just all over again." She leaned on the bed adjacent from Ava, not meeting the woman's earnest gaze. Something about it felt a little too raw and a little too much for the moment. 

"I'm sorry, I understand that that is a lot to deal with. Is there anything I can do?"

Sara pressed her lips together. There really wasn't anything Ava could do to prevent the incoming nightmares. What she saw wasn't something anyone should be cursed with, some of the things she's done in the past to lead her here, should never come to light. Especially with this beautifully soft woman in front of her, Ava was far too precious to burden with that. 

"No."

Ava just nodded. "Well, um, if there is, let me know." She said before she got distracted by her watch beeping. "Ugh, now I really have to go back and explain to Bennet what happened." Ava stood up and started to walk away.

"You're gonna be in trouble." Sara almost groaned at her obvious statement. Of course she was, Ava risked her passion, her  _ career  _ to come back and save Sara. She honestly couldn't say she minded nor would she deny that she wouldn't off Ava a spot as a Legend if the worst did happen back at the Bureau.

But no, Ava gave her this little smile. One those crinkled her eyes, tugged at the corner of her lips just so that it made Sara's heart constrict in a funny way. "It was worth it." Then, she nodded at Sara and left through a portal to get back to work.

To Sara, it had sounded like Ava said  _ you're worth it,  _ and well, she really liked the sound of that.

"Gideon? How's the timeline?" She chuckled to herself, a happy little feeling settling in her chest.

"Holding fast and Christmas Day will be celebrated as normal."

Sara grinned and clapped her hands together, "Then our work here is done."

\-----------------

_ 'Wake up! Come on, get up! Up!'  _

Sara awoke with a start, panting heavily as her eyes darted about the room like she was about to come under attack. What the  _ hell-? _ Was there a voice inside her head?? Whos voice was it? It wasn't there before she went into Mallus's realm!

"Gideon?"

"Yes, Captain Lance?"

"There was something telling me to wake up, what the hell?"

Gideon made a thoughtful noise, or well, about as thoughtful of a noise that an AI could make. "What did the voice sound like?"

Sara had to think on it for a while. The voice sounded… familiar? It sounded almost like Laurel's did, maybe even her mother's voice? But then it had some of the deeper, soothing undertones to its voice like her father had. The way it yelled at her also reminded Sara of the way her military grandfather woke them up for a long day of fun and pancakes before he passed on. It reminded her of her grandmother, the way the voice almost caressed her and gently rocked her to sleep each night when she had chicken pox as a kid.

It sounded like all of her family and yet none of them all the same?

"No results found, Captain." Sara groaned at that new piece of information. Of course, Gideon didn't have much experience with theories or dreams, she couldn't help Sara at all right now.

She decided to throw on a t-shirt and go to the bathroom on the ship, maybe splashing some cold water on her face would help her feel like she wasn't losing her goddamn mind. Sara was used to terror and fear but a voice like  _ that? _

Hell no.

She threw water on her face, carelessly and recklessly and then she scrutinized her reflection for several long minutes. Something was off about her appearance, something new was going on. There was a small scar on her jawline, faded and white, an old scar for sure but… not hers.

Sara reached up to touch it and almost threw herself back when she caught a glimpse at the sight of her left wrist. What the hell? There was new, ugly, mottled scar that completely encircled her wrist. It was horrific and old and  _ she had never had this scar on her wrist. _ "Gideon! Prep the medbay, I want this  _ scanned _ ."

\------------

Sara stared at the readings, a little dumbfounded. Gideon had been able to pinpoint the new scars, they weren't her own, they  _ were her soulmate's.  _ That might also explain the voices, Sara had found them and they accidentally bonded. 

But why are the scars showing up  _ now? _ Everyone had them from birth, Ray did, Zari did with her strange two sets of them and even Ava had them, right? Then again, she'd never seen the agent in anything other than her Bureau suit but surely, she would have noticed something, anything?

"Okay, fine, say I have met my soulmate, that doesn't explain this damn scar on my wrist! What the fuck happened to them?" Sara didn't want to comment on what she thought it looked like, there were too many wild possibilities running through her mind and she didn't want to spook herself even more by expressing them outloud.

"According to my analysis-" Gideon's sudden stop was alarming and it only served to drive Sara out of her mind as she tried to figure out why her AI had suddenly gone cryptic.

"What? What is it? Dammit, just tell me!"

"It most resembles the mark left by one getting a limb caught in a bear trap, Captain Lance."


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Date night!

Sara waited nervously at the table she reserved at a stupidly fancy restaurant. She couldn't believe this was where she wanted to take Ava but she really,  _ really  _ wanted this to work. It was their first date together and Sara had taken a big risk, accepting a date with someone who was likely not her soulmate. Ava deserved better than her anyways, someone so pure and so earnest deserved more than a monster.

She just  _ desperately  _ wanted to impress Ava.

Sara frowned and fiddled with the bracelets covering the scar on her wrist. There was also the fact that those were new so Ava wouldn't know she had it, she didn't quite know how to breach the topic of a fucking bear trap scar. It was such a rare occurance that Ava wouldn't instantly know they weren't… soulmates. That and it gave her too much of a headache to think about at the moment…

"Hey." Ava's voice stopped her train of thought and Sara turned around eagerly to see her date. 

Her heart almost  _ stopped. _

Ava was… Stunning wasn't even a strong enough word to describe how wonderful she looked. She was in a suit, an honest to god  _ suit, _ with a cute little dark blue bowtie peeking out from a jacket of the same colour. A cream colored button down, a  _ button down _ , sat under it, and if Sara stared long enough, she would swear that Ava had suspenders under her coat.

" _ Wow, _ " was all she managed as she stood up to get closer to Ava. Her eyes couldn't pick a favorite part to linger on — her gorgeous face, the handsome little bowtie, the polished silver cufflinks,  _ cufflinks _ ! Ava had really gone all out for her, she had put on her best.

For  _ Sara. _

"Wow," she said again and gently touched Ava's shoulder. Sara wanted to see what her hair was doing, it wasn't in its standard bun but instead, it was braided and then coiled up into a similar bun so it would stay off of her shirt collar. "Did Gary help you with your hair?" 

Ava gave a little flustered noise before she confirmed it. "Yeah, he's pretty good with it. I told him I had a date with you and I think he almost had a heart attack. Er, do you want to... sit? Start this date? You look beautiful by the way. Like,  _ wow."  _

That was an endearing little ramble, and Sara had to admit, this felt more and more like a good idea. It wasn't as if this was a date with any of her ex flames. This was, hopefully, a relationship that started out maybe a little rocky but evolved into mutual admiration and respect. Sure, it was a little scary, her past was scary and she didn't exactly have a great track record with love.

Ava felt different.

Sara went to pull a chair out for Ava only to look up and see that she had done the same for her. She felt endlessly charmed by it and there was humour in the situation too, they were both powerful women in charge, of course they would each want to woo the other. "Well-"

Ava laughed before she could say anything. "Of course. Um, it's fine." She took her own seat and Sara took hers, not wanting to look away from her date for another second.

Their waiter interrupted them long enough to get Ava's drink order. "Oh. I'll have whatever she's having." She gestured to Sara's drink that was in front of her

"Vodka martini, extra dirty, stirred," Sara supplied, hoping Ava wouldn't mind her choice in alcohol in the least.

Ava made an impressed noise and her face told Sara that it was a pretty decent choice. "Noted. Stirred, not shaken," she said as she slid the drink in front of Sara.

"Shaken is for lightweights who like their booze watered down. No thanks for me." Sara took her drink from her date, happily letting her fingers brush Ava's. The small touch sparked another smile from Ava as she reached out an index finger to poke Sara's hand. She was a little sad the touch had to end but she was still glad to have Ava there with her. 

"And James Bond," Ava chuckled. She straightened out her bowtie, which drew Sara's eyes to the little piece of fabric and to Ava's wonderful hands. How dare someone be so damn attractive with a dorky little bowtie?

But then a frown creased Sara's face as oddly coloured flesh became apparent on Ava's left wrist. Was it just a trick or did Ava have on a bracelet or something? Should she ask about it or was it too forward? What if it was something from her soulmate? Then that would  _ definitely  _ be too personal, especially if Sra wasn't Ava's soulmate.

"You okay?"

She snapped out of her little daydream at the sound of Ava's soft, concerned voice. "Yeah, yeah! Just, how was work?" Sara changed the subject quickly as their waiter returned with Ava's drink.

"Work was… ugh." Ava made another face. "I don't know, I don't really want to talk about how much of a trainwreck today was. But, um, you can. How are the Legends?"

"That bad?" Sara asked gently, reaching out to offer a hand to her date. She made a pleased hum when Ava took her hand and squeezed it ever so slightly.

Ava just shrugged in response 

"I get that. We're hunting down the Fire totem right now. I'm… honestly worried something is gonna go wrong without me there." She frowned and picked at the toothpick that was in her glass. It's not that they weren't responsible adults, it's just that when they were all together, they tended to lose every brain cell they had. Amaya miraculously kept hers but Sara waited for the day that she succumbed to the dumbassery that was her team. 

Ava squeezed her hand, pulling her away from her thoughts again. "Well, they're lucky to have you. You have your bad moments but I have to say, you're a damn fine captain."

"Was that a compliment, Agent Sharpe?" Sara asked teasingly. She took a chance and glanced at their hands. Ava's fit so perfect with hers that she didn't ever want to let go, it was soft and smooth and utterly  _ perfect. _

"Maybe." Ava ran her thumb over the back of Sara's hand, and a soft, open look on her face had Sara melting even more. 

The waiter had horrible timing, she knew it in her heart of hearts when he interrupted them again. He told them that their table was ready and while Sara was happy for that, but honestly, she had been about to kiss Ava and damn the consequences.

It didn't take them long to order, Ava made a small joke about the salmon smelling fishy that made Sara laugh harder than it should have. They got a few stink eyes from neighboring patrons and she almost flipped them off, but why should she care? They were the ones on meaningless token dates while she was here with a very handsome woman who made her feel less like a monster.

"Oh come on, my fish joke wasn't that funny," Ava chuckled and took another sip of her martini. "That's very good, by the way."

"Shut up. It was! I haven't heard a good, stupid pun in forever." She laughed a little. "And thanks, I like to think I have somewhat good tastes."

"I saw your bourbon stash that one time, so you  _ do. _ "

Sara played a little coy. "Maybe you could come over sometime and try it for yourself, Agent Sharpe." It was definitely more of a suggestion than it was a question. She really wanted Ava over for more than business and for more than arresting someone.

In return, Ava gave her a smoldering look and a little wink. That wink would have knocked Sara on her ass had she not been sitting down already. This woman really was something else, wasn't she?

Some time passed before it was revealed that Ava had read her file and already knew a lot of her past. "That's worse than googling!" She tried to sound offended but in all honesty, it was pretty funny.

"I had to! Director Hunter made me read it!" Ava tried to defend herself but couldn't help but laugh at the situation. 

Sara shrugged. "Well, then, ask me anything. I'm an open book."

Her date seemed to think on it, an adorable look on her face as she really put some effort into any question she could ask Sara. Again, it was adorable and Sara didn't know how she was able to handle this without passing out. 

"Oh! Most afraid you've ever felt?"

Okay, easy enough. "Easy. First time I held a weapon."

"Lian Yu?" Ava asked gently. Sara admired that she didn't want to beat around the bush but didn't bulldoze through and assume everything. It was a nice balance of delicate and unafraid. She found that she really liked it the more she thought about it.

"No. Starling City Elementary." She might as well air out her dirty laundry. If nothing else, it would make Ava laugh.

Which it did. The more Sara told her about it, the more her mouth dropped open and her eyes widened in shock. "Peter Pan?" Ava managed to ask, leaning forward out of intrigue. 

Sara was briefly distracted by that small sliver of skin on Ava's wrist again. It looked more and more like scar tissue and she so desperately wanted to  _ ask  _ but would it be invasive to know? To know if maybe, just maybe Ava's scar was the same as hers? 

"Yeah, the year I froze up in front of  _ everyone _ , broke out into tap dance and ran off the stage crying." Sara cringed as she finished that but it wasn't so bad. Ava threw her head back and laughed at the thought of tiny Sara Lance dancing in a little Peter Pan outfit. "Oh suuure, laugh at poor little me's misery!" she snorted and rolled her eyes.

"I'm sorry! But that's funny!"

"Oh. Like  _ you  _ don't have any ridiculous memories from when  _ you  _ were a kid!" 

Ava froze, wide eyed and suddenly, she looked every bit lost and scared like Sara did so many years ago when she seized up from stage fright. “Um, I… I lost my memory. A lot of it, I got into a car crash not long before I was recruited to the Bureau,” she admitted, unable to meet her date’s eyes all of a sudden.

Sara was at a loss for what to say. That was some  _ heavy _ shit to bear, she’d been lucky to only have lost a few memories after the Lazarus Pit resurrected her and those had come back pretty fast once her family and friends had gotten her soul back. Well, despite the odd remark Laurel had made about her soulmate's scars suddenly disappearing. They all just chalked it up to the Pit healing them but Sara had been doubtful, she hadn’t mentioned it then but she couldn’t even feel that her soulmate was out there anymore. It just felt sad and silent without them, she’d been utterly lost and alone without being able to know that they were even around.

“I lost my memories. Once, thanks to… well, you know.” Ava nodded, she understood what Sara was trying to hint at. "Most of them came back, some I can't quite grasp but what I'm saying is you're not alone in feeling confused." Sara placed her hand on top of Ava's left hand. 

Ava smiled before a grimace came across her face. She pinched the bridge of her nose, inhaling sharply as a pain spiked right behind her eyes. 

"Woah, are you okay?" Sara almost leapt up to check on Ava but Ava held her hand tightly, keeping her tethered and preventing her from moving. She chose instead to glare at the onlookers, daring them to continue staring at her date as she worked through what was an obviously painful migraine. Ava didn't answer her but Sara could see some tears gathering around her eyelashes. "Aves, do I have to take you to a hospital? I will."

Ava's head shook no, the movement slow and tight and concerning Sara an  _ extreme  _ amount. "No. I'm just… I'll be back." When she managed to pry her grip off of Sara, she stumbled away like a newborn foal and Sara wanted to follow her. She wanted to make sure that Ava was okay but she felt glued to her seat in a way.

This date had been going so  _ well _ . She finally felt like she could have something,  _ anything  _ normal with the insane life that she led. But no, somehow, and she was sure it was her fault, she triggered an acute response in Ava. 

Why was it always her fault?

\---------

Ava dried off after she finished splashing cold water on her face, careful not to ruin the miniscule amount of makeup she put on to cover up the scar on her jaw. The pain  _ had _ lessened the more she backed away from Sara but she'd be damned if she gave up on this woman because of a little headache. 

Well, it wasn't  _ exactly  _ little, her head did feel like it was being split open with an axe, repeatedly. But the point was that nothing was going to stop her from learning how to be with the powerhouse of a woman at their table. Maybe, if she was lucky, she'd get to love Sara before she inevitably found her soulmate and left Ava for them. 

Still, it was a risk she was willing to take.

Ava took a deep breath and blew it out slowly, forcing herself to focus and making sure she didn't look like a total mess for when she went back to the date. That is, if Sara was still there after Ava staggered away like a wounded gazelle. 

What was it though? What had  _ caused  _ the episode? Was it her? Was something different? She was still the same as she had always been, blonde hair, blue eyes, she was tall and she was better than some damn headache that tried preventing her from wooing a girl.

She sighed and looked at her reflection to make sure her makeup was still intact. Ava almost broke the mirror in her shock when she saw what was looking back at her. There was no way that was right, she  _ refused  _ to believe what she saw. So instead, she chose to run from the bathroom and return to Sara.

"Ava!" Gary's harsh whisper startled her as soon as she walked out of the bathroom.

Oh  _ no. _ She had told him under  _ no  _ circumstances was he supposed to interrupt this! Ava quickly grabbed him by his lapels and shoved him against the nearest wall. He immediately cowered and held his hands up to prove that he meant peace. "This better be good." Ava snarled, her eyes darting to the entrance to the dining hall to make sure Sara couldn't see this.

"I-I promise it is! The Bureau's fine, I'm fine. I got pantsed by a speedster and my time courier maaaay have gotten stolen? So I went to check the Bureau, make sure it was secure and it's fine! But there's a small issue." He started sweating and Ava's nose crinkled up from the stench of fear and regret wafting up from him. "There's a long, brown trench coat missing from the supply closet. One that belonged to-"

" _ Rip Hunter."  _ Ava's voice deepened as she let out an honest to god  _ growl _ at the mention of that man's name. If there was anyway she could hate him more, she would but right now? She was pretty damn close to killing him on sight  _ if  _ he was unfortunate enough to cross her path.

"I'm sorry, I just thought you should know." Gary tried to soothe her anger. Honestly, he did the right thing by telling her to her face rather than waiting until she came into the Bureau and found out through the inventory reports, or from some other agent when he already knew.

She dropped him and heaved out a long suffering sigh. "I know, thank you. Just, start scouring the timeline for him, okay? If we don't know where he is, then I'm not going to cancel my date early." Ava straightened up, she still held her military like posture even when not in a Bureau issued suit. This was Bureau business so she had to act like a senior agent, at least for a few more minutes before she got back to Sara and their dinner.

“Yes ma’am. Er, do you want to know if we find him?”

Ava shook her head. “When I come into the office next, please.” Gary straightened his tie, gave a firm nod before he took his leave to allow Ava to return to her date hopefully.

She got back to the table where Sara was casually perusing a dessert menu, or so it seemed. Upon closer inspection, Ava saw that Sara wasn’t actually reading the thing, she was using it as an anchor of sorts to keep herself from freaking out. That’s what Ava thought was happening at least. 

“Ava!” Sara jumped up and disregarded the menu, their things and their table to check on her. It warmed her heart and made a blush appear on her cheeks the longer she thought about it. It was nice to have someone care about her like  _ this  _ again, the last time she could remember being fussed iver was after the car accident and her parents making sure she got back on her feet. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, but I think I’m done with dinner," she said shyly, nervously picking at her suit.

Sara deflated at hearing that, most likely disappointed that she thought that Ava was leaving early. “Oh, uh, yeah, I get that. That was-”

“Wanna take a walk instead?” Ava interrupted her, she hoped that Sara wouldn't mind the change of venue. Even if they were in Star City, it wasn't likely that they'd run into trouble and if they did, they were very well prepared to take care of themselves in case anything happened.

Sara just lit up and nodded, a beautiful smile fixed on her face. She got money out to pay for their meal before Ava could protest, all she said to that was, "You can get the next one." She threw a smoldering look at Ava before she bound away, as if she was daring Ava to chase her.

The idea of a second date, made all of this worth it and she eagerly followed Sara out of the restaurant.

\-------

Sara had to hand it to Ava. This walk she was on with her, pressed into the taller woman's side and holding her hand, was better than the actual dinner by far. It was nice to leisurely enjoy her time off the Waverider without the threat of world domination or the timeline breaking and cracking anymore, further ruining history.

"What's on your mind?" Ava asked, her voice soft and raspy and music to Sara's ears.

Sara shivered before she could respond, silently cursing. The fact that she didn't bring a damn jacket with her. Ava pulled away despite Sara's protests and shrugged off her suit jacket, then she held it open for Sara to slip into. She did so quickly, enjoying the larger garment's warmth and the scent of… trees? Whatever it was, it was incredibly nice and she liked being able to see Ava in her button down/suspender mix.

"What about you?" She asked, a little worried that Ava would get cold.

"Actually, I was getting warm." Ava sheepishly responded. 

They continued on in companionable silence after that, Sara once again enjoying the warmth Ava and her jacket gave her. She made a small, content noise and burrowed even further into Ava's side. If she wanted, she would think about how it felt like Ava just pulled her closer.

"So…" Ava coughed a little, stopping Sara from continuing. "What?"

"So, you know how I read your file? I know what your dad and sister look like and that's  _ definitely  _ them coming this way." She sounded a lot distressed but refused to pull her arm from around Sara's shoulders, instead she just pulled her even closer. (Sara thought that had been impossible but who was she to complain?)

"Sara Lance! Why didn't you  _ tell _ us you were in town? Let alone that you had a date!" Laurel smacked Sara's shoulder in greeting before eyeing Ava warily. Ava met her gaze steadily, refusing to let herself be intimidated, even if she knew that Laurel was the Black Canary. 

Quentin was still trying to catch his breath after he had had to run to keep up with Laurel who had charged over to where Sara and Ava were being entirely too cute. (In her opinion, he had been too busy staring at the cats in someone's window.) He had heard her exclaim  _ something  _ before she took off in a direction that was certainly not the cafe that they had been trying to go to.

"Because you would have had Felicity stalk her! And would have threatened her!" Sara whined, pouting like a petulant child who had just been caught stealing cookies. 

Quentin looked nervously at Ava, she didn't  _ seem  _ like the type to frighten easily but there were still things she didn't know or wasn't supposed to know according to their "friendly" local vigilante. He wouldn’t go that far to say Oliver was friendly but he didn’t exactly want to get on the man’s bad side just yet. 

“Well, then, Aves, this is my sister, Laurel and my dad, Quentin. Not that you don’t know that already, creep. Laur, dad, this is my date, Ava Sharpe.”

“Nice to meet you, sir.” Ava firmly shook Quentin’s hand and then shook Laurel’s. 

"I tried telling her not to interrupt ya, Sara but you know how your sister is." Quentin apologized to Sara who shrugged it off. "You're Ava? She's told me a little about ya."

Ava looked even more nervous, shifting on her feet as she stayed attached to Sara's side like Sara was her lifeline. "She's told me a lot about you both, meaning I am not surprised Ms. Lance came over."

"She's my sister, not your boss, Aves." Sara chuckled and Ava just sheepishly grinned at her. "Meaning, she knew your nosey ass had to have a say."

"Hey!"

" _ Girls."  _ Quentin warned them and got innocent little 'whats' from both of them. "You're gonna send me to an early grave."

"Been there, I don't recommend it." Sara chuckled.

" _ Would  _ you both like to get ice cream with us?" Ava cut in, clearly exasperated with the situation but determined to turn it around into a bonding experience for all of them.

Luckily, Quentin and Laurel agreed with the idea and they walked towards a little ice cream shop not too far away. Meanwhile Sara had the strangest feeling of that something was  _ missing _ , but what could it possibly be? She had the most beautiful woman ever at her side, said woman who laughed at something dorky that her father said and was getting along  _ weirdly _ well with her sister who had never liked  _ any  _ of Sara’s past suitors. It all seemed to fit and be exactly what was supposed to be happening. 

So, nothing was wrong. 

Right?

But then she saw the Waverider fall out of the sky in a ball of smoke and flames, so she and Ava had to run off to deal with that and leave her family behind, confused and  _ very  _ concerned that they were running towards the danger.

\------------------------

Sara sighed heavily. Blackbeard, the Earth totem, Amaya going rogue and  _ everything _ that could have gone wrong did go wrong in one night. What the hell even was tonight? The Waverider was lucky to be functional at all after what her idiots did to it, Gideon certainly made sure that they wouldn’t hear the end of it until her ship was back to full functionality.

It felt like nothing had gone right at all.

“Hey, I brought the rum and I brought milkshakes but Gideon made those.” Ava’s voice cut through Sara’s bitter thoughts, a gentle smile on her face that caused Sara's heart to do a couple of flips.

Oh, she was an angel for thinking of dessert. “Are you an angel?” Sara didn’t even care if she was being obvious about her gratitude or not. Ava was the most amazing woman in the multiverse right now, especially for not running away and instead, helping the Legends with their pirate problem.

"No, I'm actually real."

"Hey! I bet angels are real, demons are!" 

Ava just laughed and poured rum into their milkshakes, not dignifying Sara with a response to that. Sara watched her take a long draw of the concoction in front of her before letting out a sinful, satisfied groan after downing a quarter of the glass.

Sara had never been so jealous of a milkshake in her  _ life. _

"What?" Ava asked innocently, a small blush colouring her face as she gazed at Sara.

She just coughed in response. 

"So, as far as first dates go…" 

"Yeah?" 

"I think it went pretty well. Considering our lines of work, it could have gone a  _ lot  _ different. Pirates are a  _ dream  _ compared to some of the anachronisms I've encountered." Ava's eyes were drawn to the bottle of rum she had brought over, a confused look suddenly on her face. "And it seems Amaya made her mark."

Sara looked down and saw a picture of Amaya on the bottle, her pirate persona finished branding the liquor as it was renamed  _ Dread Pirate Jiwe Rum. _ "Huh, well, I guess we really do screw things up for the better sometimes." She said thoughtfully before she turned and cheersed her float with Ava's. 

"So, what now?"

"Oh well, I was thinking Ghengis Khan for our second date?" Sara flirted a little, leaning closer to Ava and desperately wanting to kiss her since they were so  _ close. _

Ava's eyes flicked to Sara's lips before she smirked, "Done, but only if I can call you Peter Pan." 

" _ Don't. _ " 

"But-"

"Don't!" Sara pressed her index finger flush to Ava's lips to prevent her from teasing any further. The downside to this was that Ava's eyes darkened a little more and it caused Sara to  _ still  _ think about what would happen if they made out in the kitchen. Gideon would probably douse them with the sprinklers before she threatened them into taking it elsewhere was the probable ending.

"Sara?" Ava asked after she pulled back.

"Yeah?"

"Can I kiss you?" And well, Sara had never accepted a request so eagerly in her life as she practically attacked Ava and sealed their lips together. The next thing that happened was that Sara practically dragged her to the Captain's quarters, she intended to end this date on a very, very good note.

But, again, as far as dates go, this one ended pretty damn well in her book regardless if Ava decided not to follow her. Since she did, Sara was  _ far  _ from complaining. 

Far from complaining indeed.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The morning after, followed by a few revealations along with a small sparring scene and Ava gets big news.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took so long! Hope y'all like it!
> 
> Special shoutout to unlocktherainbow for helping me through a rough scene, pls give her credit for the teeny sparring scene because I CANNOT write fights 😅 Thanks bro for your help

"Gideon, if you were human, I think I'd do some sinful things to you for this french toast," Ava groaned as she took another bite of Gideon's secret french toast recipe. Out of all the options she had been given earlier, something sugary, something fried and then smothered with even  _ more  _ sugar (maybe a few berries too, blueberries and blackberries please) had been  _ exactly  _ what she needed to regain her energy from the previous night.

Meanwhile, Sara had started choking on her coffee, spilling more on her shirt as she tried to avoid snorting it in with the laugh she was holding back. How  _ dare  _ Ava be this funny (and gorgeous) at damn near 8 in the morning? "You did some pretty sinful things last night, Agent Sharpe." She played coy instead, throwing a suggestive look at Ava, who blushed and hid behind her coffee mug. 

Sara glanced around trying to subtly see if anything was out of place since she 'retired' earlier than normal. It was a layover skill she kept from her time in the league, more often than not, it came in handy. Like this time when she made a pass near the fabricator, paused and then frowned at the state of the sink. That was weird, Ray  _ loved  _ doing dishes, there was no way he'd leave them to anyone else nor would he leave them out overnight.

So something was  _ definitely  _ off there.

"Hey, did you know-" Ava distracted her with a dumb history fact that made her laugh and put the dish thing in the back of her mind. It could wait a few more minutes, Ray was human after all and he could have just been too tired to do anything. Especially after yesterday's mission with the Darhks.

After that, they ate in silence, exchanging flirty touches and giggling when the other woman did something silly to make them laugh. Ava made a few more noises that made Sara want to drag her back to bed, so she retaliated by dumping just a  _ little  _ too much sugar in Ava's coffee, causing her to scrunch her nose up and go cross eyed in her retaliation of making Sara laugh this time.

"You know, in the spirit of things, I think I'll have some more of that  _ wonderful  _ french toast, please," Ava directed at Gideon and she took her plate over to the fabricator. She passed Sara who bumped her with her butt, earning herself a slap and an offended noise from Ava.

Sara let her eyes drift back to the dirty pile of dishes and frowned for a second time, those shouldn't _ still  _ shouldn't be piled so high. It was unusual that Ray wasn't awake by now, normally he was up with the sun to do his morning workouts, get breakfast with them and then do the dishes. It was unlike him to have disappeared this long, so something had to have been wrong, right?

"Hey, Sara, I was wondering if we could take the Waverider to when Mount Saint Helens exploded, I've always wanted-" Zari's sudden ramble distracted them from their early morning bliss and Sara's troubled thoughts- "and see when it exploded… oh, heyyy, Ava." She appeared extremely flustered over having been  _ blatantly  _ asking about using an important time travel vehicle for personal gain in front of a Time Bureau Agent. 

Ava merely winked at her and turned away, deciding that since she was off the clock, Zari's want of a joyride was Sara's problem and she could enjoy her hard earned breakfast in  _ peace. _

"What's with all the dirty dishes? Ray usually stays up after a mission to wash them." Zari popped a piece of popcorn in her mouth as she pointed out the thing that had been bothering Sara for the past half hour.

"Yeah, It's been bugging me," Sara said, Ava shot her a concerned look her way as she paused in the middle of her next bite. "He loves doing them, says it helps center him or whatever it is?"

"Is he the one who's been spewing the neurological benefits of putting butter in his coffee and got it into Gary's head?" Ava's eyes narrowed as she angrily thought about the ruined coffee makers at the office and stabbed her next bite of french toast with a little more force than necessary.

Zari and Sara just grimaced and nodded in sympathy.

"Incoming video from the Time Bureau." Gideon's sudden message almost made Ava go into an honest to god choking fit, Zari slapped her back a few times to try and help her along while Gideon continued. "It's Agent Green."

Sara glanced at Ava, who just gave her a thumbs up. "Alright Gideon, put him on." She leaned back against the counter and crossed her arms, a stern demeanor settling in because if the Bureau was calling her, especially when it wasn't Ava, then something had to be  _ really  _ wrong. 

And of course it was. Ray had been kidnapped, by  _ Damien Darhk  _ and his wicked daughter, Nora Darhk, of all people. Ray  _ had  _ to go back and revive Nora, he would never let someone with a past as sad as hers just die. He was a big, dumb softie who loved too much and now Sara had to rescue him or else she'd lose another member of her family. Stein and Jax were already gone to retirement, she wasn't about to lose someone so  _ important  _ to her to Darhk.

Not again, not like she almost lost Laurel if it hadn't been for Felicity's intuition and Oliver and Dig's field knowledge that kept her alive until she got to the hospital. 

“Hey, we’re gonna find him, okay?” Ava stopped Sara from continuing on her war path to the bridge with a gentle touch to her wrist. “Okay?” she said gently and then tucked a strand of hair behind Sara’s ear, her hand trailing behind before she stopped to cup her cheek. 

Sara leaned into the warm touch, if there was anyone who could bring her comfort, of course it’d be Ava. They connected almost scarily well the night before, they didn't  _ just  _ sleep together, they learned so much about each other that it was…

Well, freaky.

"Hey." Ava hugged her this time, surprising her with the contact but it was apparently much needed because Sara broke down sobbing. She clung to Ava's shirt and just let herself break with someone there to catch her as she fell.

\---------

"Any sign of him?" 

"Not yet, the Darhks  _ are  _ Time Travelers themselves, so it wouldn't surprise me they know how to cloak their location." Ava touched her shoulder briefly before turning back to the console to scour a new period in history.

Sara did notice that Ava was a little,  _ a lot  _ more tactile than usual. Maybe it was because she was away from the Bureau, finally, and she allowed herself to be free and be herself without some other government stiff breathing down her neck. Gary didn't count, he was too much of a puppy in her eyes to be any type of threat. In fact, he seemed to be exactly the person that kept Ava sane while at work and  _ that  _ was saying something.

Nevertheless, she leaned into the touch, seeking comfort from Ava's warm hand.

Zari came in, silently joining the search party now that she had a plate of donuts with her. She made no comment to the other women, she didn't want to break the little bubble they had created for themselves. She was glad though that the big, bad Captain Lance found someone who made her feel less alone. 

Soulmates weren't too big a thing in her time, ARGUS having found a way to exploit a meta's person(s) to their advantage. So, no one sought them out nor did they actively try to meet their "other half." Zari thought that was bullshit, she wasn't incomplete, she didn't  _ need  _ anyone to complete her…

Besides, she only had a couple of scars to begin with, certainly they were all her own and she didn't have one of those weird soulmate bonds. Though, the longer she looked at them, it didn't seem so bad, the whole soulmate thing.

“Did you find anything?” Zari asked, disturbing them from whatever bubble they were in.

“No.” Sara sighed before they got back to scouring the timeline for their lost teammate.

A portal opening drew their attention to Wally West stepping through first, closely followed by-

" _ You!"  _ Ava growled, disappearing  _ oddly  _ fast to try and attack Rip Hunter. Wally went to grab her but she turned on him, and something in her eyes must have scared him into backing up real damn quick with his hands held up. " _ You should be in prison!"  _ Ava grabbed Rip by the lapels of his trenchcoat and shoved him against a wall, clearly infuriated at seeing him.

"Man, I thought you said they'd be  _ happy  _ to see you." Wally frowned and looked over at Sara for help, a hopelessly lost expression on his face.

That snapped her out of her dumbfounded trance and she hurried over to get to Ava. "Hey, hey, let him go. I know you want to kill him, I do too." She leveled a glare at Rip who was fearing for his life more and more as time passed. "But focus, okay? He knows how much you want to kill him so he wouldn't come back without reason."

"It's true-"

" _ Shut up."  _ Ava jerked him forward before shoving him against the wall again. He wisely kept quiet while Sara talked down the very murderous woman in front of him. "He got  _ my  _ agents killed! All their families,  _ I was the one who had to look them in the eye and tell them!"  _

"Ava." Sara touched her bare wrist gently, the sleeve had fallen down from how she was roughing up Rip. She almost froze at the feeling of scar tissue that added texture to the skin she  _ thought  _ would be smooth. This really wasn't the time to address it but it felt almost  _ exactly  _ like…

She couldn't be that lucky, there was no way, right?

"Aves, let him go." Her voice turned soft and she got Ava to look at her. Eyes that should be blue were a mesmerizing gold instead. It wasn't unheard of, no, a lot of metas back home changed with powers but as far as she knew, Ava didn't  _ have  _ any powers. Then again, it really wasn't any of her business, but she did like to know these things so she knew how to help when someone lost control. 

Like now.

Fortunately, Ava listened to her and dropped Rip before she slumped into Sara, the smaller woman easily catching her before she dragged Ava off to somewhere more private. She barely had enough consideration to yell over her shoulder that they needed to keep looking for Ray and that Zari was in charge while she was gone.

\------

"Agent Sharpe is perfectly healthy, Captain Lance," Gideon reassured Sara but she was still doubtful. "She may just be exhausted, I do recall neither of you slept particularly long."

If she could smack Gideon, she honestly would because that was none of her  _ damn business. _

"How are you feeling?" Sara decided to ignore Gideon and focus on Ava, who honestly did look exhausted. She reached out and gently took her hand, holding it close to her chest to provide Ava with a tether. "You went, well,  _ feral."  _

"He makes me so- so  _ angry. _ " Ava sighed, squeezing Sara's hand and gazing up at her adoringly. "You don't, you used to make me mad but now? Well, I don't know how you do it but you help quell the 'beast' inside." She used air quotes for that and it was too adorable for words, Ava was too adorable most time and it was utterly unfair.

Sara understood though. She understood battling demons, running from all the anger and frustration only to end up consumed by it. "He'll get what he deserves, okay? But I'm glad I can help keep you calm." She stroked Ava's wrist, quite obvious as to what she was thinking now with how she was touching her prominent scar.

"Do you feel it too?" Ava whispered.

Sara nodded in response, barely able to breathe due to the emotion she could almost  _ feel  _ radiating off Ava.

"I- I thought I was hallucinating, the scars on your torso and on your body- they match mine. But, I don't get it, if we are… soulmates… then why didn't the bond form?" Ava frowned, her nose scrunched up as she delved deep into thought.

Ava was her soulmate.  _ Ava was-  _ they were soulmates! 

It made sense in a way, but it also made  _ no  _ sense at all. How could someone as wonderful as Ava be  _ her  _ soulmate? She didn't deserve this woman, not after everything she'd done since she got on the  _ Gambit _ . Even if she was "reformed" now, even if she tried to be a hero, she never quite felt like she deserved anything that she had now.

"Are you sure?" Sara had to doubt it, while the proof was pretty damn clear, she still had to try and cling to reason because she just couldn’t get rid of the thought that this was too good to be true. Tears welled up in her eyes at that, there was no fucking way she deserved Ava. Just no  _ way. _

Ava didn't respond. She pulled her arm back and pushed up her sleeve, the bear trap scar plain as day now. Though, she didn't plan on stopping there evidently. She sat up and started tugging her shirt up. Sara stopped her from doing that, holding her hands in place because she  _ knew  _ what would be on Ava's torso and she wasn't sure she could handle seeing it. Even if they weren't bonded then, Ava would have for  _ sure  _ felt her die several years ago. 

"Ava,  _ stop." _

"No, you can't run from this, you're my-"

She stopped Ava from saying that by kissing her with the tears now spilling down her cheeks. They stayed there a moment, Sara's hands still firmly keeping Ava's shirt down while she fought back the well of emotions that was currently leaking through her soul. 

Sara pressed her forehead against Ava's, still crying from the thought that  _ this  _ woman was her soulmate. "You okay?" Ava stopped her from spiralling again, her fingers softly wiping away the tear tracks on her cheeks. 

"Yeah, just-" she laughed wetly-"I'm a little in shock. Little bit of disbelief too."

Ava smiled. "Yeah, yeah, I get that." 

But Sara really did feel lucky even if she was sure this wasn't right, all the evidence pointed to Ava being her soulmate and there was no one else she'd rather have as her person. Just, there was a small, niggling thought in the back of her mind. It was annoying and wouldn't go away no matter how much she wanted it too.

It was the question of  _ why  _ didn't their bond take?

\---------

It had been a few days now since they had found Ray and since she and Ava fully figured out that  _ maybe  _ they were soulmates. Sara had been doing research since then on bonds and scar sharing, it wasn't unheard of for two (or more) people to share scars but to not be bonded. Normally it was due to trauma at least one of the parties sustained beforehand so she could easily chalk it up to the fact that due to the Lazarus Pit, she wouldn't have had scars from Ava.

But then, Ava pulling her out of the realm of Mallus made those scars appear, so why didn't it help reactivate their bond? 

It could be Ava's trauma as well, she did suffer a horrendous car crash that made her lose her whole  _ life's  _ memories until her parents and-

Rip. Somehow, she felt like this had something to do with him and she  _ definitely  _ needed to threaten the truth out of him at some point. Maybe if he knew she was onto him, then he'd fess up and they could learn more about Ava's past other than vague stories about distant parents and hollow memories.

"Gideon? Can you get me Ava?" Sara asked, fully expecting to pause somewhere to wait for a call.

"She is currently in the gym, Captain," Gideon helpfully supplied as if the thought of that didn't nearly make Sara spontaneously combust. "I believe she is sparring with Mr. Heywood while Ms. Jiwe and Ms. Tomaz watch her 'kick his ass', as they said." 

Sara chuckled and spun around on her heel, making a beeline to the Waverider's gym so she could see this for herself. She knew Ava could fight, the time that Ava tried to arrest her was proof enough, but how well could she fight when there were literally  _ no  _ stakes? (Maybe a stake or two for Nate because he was a sore loser if the last Legend's game night indicated anything.)

She got to the gym just in time to see Ava flip Nate over on his back and pin him down with her elbow to his sternum. She kept him there until he started slapping at the ground and called Uncle. Ava popped up with a victorious grin as Amaya and Zari cheered her on. She helped Nate up, clapping him on the back as he congratulated her on another win it sounded like from Sara's position near the entrance.

"I see you're warming up." If Sara sounded amused, it was because she was highly amused at their tomfoolery, especially with Nate's as he came over to chatter at her.

"It was  _ awesome! _ Mrs. Captain was showing me new moves and she flipped me! That was  _ great _ !" He bounced on his heels excitedly, his eyes shone with the force of his happiness and Sara was glad he was having fun. Even if the new bruises were something he should get checked out with his hemophilia. "I had  _ way  _ too much coffee and Ava showed me some exercises to help clear it but  _ then  _ I remembered how she tried to arrest us and I asked her if she would spar with me and she said yes! Then Amaya and Z came in to watch me lose because  _ obviously  _ I'd lose but it was fun!" Nate was practically vibrating and that was enough for her, he needed to take a good hard nap.

"Noted. Amaya, Zari, can you two make sure Mr. Caffeinated gets checked over on his bruises and he needs his fidget cube, please."

"On it." Zari saluted dorkily and Sara rolled her eyes at her. Amaya rolled her own as well but gave a wave to Ava before they dragged Nate off to the medbay.

Sara noticed Ava humming, seemingly pleased with herself as she picked up her water bottle and took several long gulps. The sight of Ava in workout gear, sweaty and mussed up as she sucked down water shouldn't have been as attractive as it was but well, she's learning that nothing is quite off the table where her… soulmate is concerned.

She still couldn't quite believe  _ Ava  _ was her soulmate. They were working through why they didn't bond, each delving into research on their own time, but it was weird still. Of course, as a kid, she  _ really  _ wanted to find her soulmate and her parents always exchanged this weird little look for years after one of their camping trips anytime she mentioned it. 

"You okay?" Sara almost clocked Ava over the head for startling her but Ava had faster reflexes than she thought and caught her arm. "Whoa! Easy, it's just me," Ava said softly, the sound easily helping Sara calm down from being surprised.

"Sorry, force of habit." This was why she shouldn't have a soulmate now, she was so damaged and broken that no one deserved to be with her. Who the hell wants a soulmate who was an assassin? Someone who killed ruthlessly and without remorse? Why would Ava want her when she shouldn't even be here now?

Ava seemed to understand. "Well, we did end up in a draw last time so I think I can handle you." 

"Are those fighting words?"

"I'm just saying, I think I can beat you now." An almost feral grin spread across Ava's lips, her teeth shining in the crappy light of the Waverider's gym. 

"Oh yeah?" Sara stretched as she said that, she should have known Ava wasn't that easy to scare away. " _ Prove it." _

\----------

Somehow, they managed to gather a small crowd during their first round sparring. All of the Legends saw Sara sweep Ava unceremoniously off her feet, the agent falling on her back with a loud ' _ oof'. _ Sara had tried to be a good sport and help her off the floor but Ava just pulled her down, rolling them over so she could pin Sara to the floor.

"Got you!"

"Oh no you don't!" Sara grinned and through sheer force and all the strength she had, she shoved Ava off of her, then she leapt to her feet and bound away, Ava would be close behind if her reflexes were anything like Sara was expecting.

She predictably was and Sara easily spun around and knocked Ava off her feet.

"Damn!" Zari whistled lowly at seeing Ava swept off her feet again. 

"Awww, I'm sorry." Sara actually helped Ava up this time and narrowly avoided getting hit by Ava's fist. "Is  _ that  _ what I get for being a team player?" She jumped away from another swipe, that one more playful than if Ava actually intended to try and make contact. "Best three out of five, Sharpe?"

"You're  _ on _ ."

They split up to shake out the initial rounds while eyeing each other. Initially it was to keep an eye on the other but Sara made a funny face at Ava and got glared at in return. She grinned cheekily, she managed to pull a little smile from Ava before they both dropped into their attack stances and circled each other.

They were keeping an eye out for an opening in the other's defenses, plus it didn't hurt that this was apparently one of the only times they could check each other out without raising too many suspicions. Though, Sara was positive the entire team knew they were together but refused to comment on it and they were just going to let them play it out on their own terms.

Ava swiped at Sara to bring her back to their sparring but she underestimated Sara's reflexes. She grabbed Ava's wrist and leveled her to the ground once again by simply pushing her.

A few more matches passed before Ava had stripped off her shirt, sweat glistening down her bare arms and staining her tank top. Sara gave her an appreciative once over, her eyes lingered on the scar on Ava's wrist for a moment before she used the distraction to end this once and for all. She knew Ava would be tired, she knew that by now she'd be ready to call it quits if it weren't for her competitive spirit.

And just as she said, it didn't take more than a few well placed hits before she had Ava on the floor with her legs loose around Sara's hips. "I seem to remember being between your legs in a  _ much _ different way." She said teasingly, throwing a playful seductive look at Ava.

"Oh my  _ god, get off of me!"  _ Ava pushed her while laughing, truly not upset that she ultimately lost.

"Is that anyway to treat your soulmate?" Sara said indignantly and perhaps a bit too loud because  _ all  _ of the Legends perked up and started scrambling over to them.

"She's your  _ soulmate?!"  _ Ray's voice broke their trance as he screeched out of pure joy before all of the Legends overwhelmed them with entirely too many questions.

But, as it was all out of love and excitement, Sara let it slide. That's what family did.

\-----------

_ Director Sharpe. _

That's who Ava was now after she, Sara and Rip watched in horror as Bennet was ruthlessly murdered by the telepathic, psychopathic gorilla Grodd. 

They barely paid attention when Gideon was trying to get their attention to patch a call in in the first place. Sara had been busy holding Ava back from ripping Rip Hunter to shreds for daring to think that he could offer any beneficial intel that would possibly give him any sort of leverage to bargain for his freedom.

They didn't even notice Bennet had been watching them until they heard several horrible screams and turned to see Grodd…

Yeah, that was an image she was unlikely to get out of her head anytime soon.

"Hey." Sara sounded happy at least. 

"Hey, Sara." Ava, however, already sounded exhausted. She had been the most senior agent at the time of Bennet's murder so she was logically the next in line to take over. But now, she had to prove that to the board and she had to prove that to a whole bunch of other agents who potentially wanted her spot. At least she could count on Gary to back her up when she offered herself up like a lone wolf fighting off a pack of lions.

"You okay?" Sara's touch was welcome as she cupped Ava's jaw, gently rubbing her cheek with her thumb.

"Yeah, just there's a lot on my plate now. I've got to convince them, everyone, that I'm fit to lead and what if I'm not? There's no way I can guarantee that I can keep all of them alive, let alone-"

"But you'd try? You won't throw them at an enemy that none of them can win against?" Sara stopped her from rambling, a determined little look on her face that left Ava wondering what she was trying to get at.

"Of course! They're  _ my  _ agents now, no matter what any damn board says." Ava pulled back, ready to fight if she had to because she was protective as  _ hell  _ over her agents.

"Then you'll be a great director, better than Rip, better than Bennet." She must have seen the puzzled look on Ava's face because Sara gently took her face between both of her hands, pulling her back in to make sure Ava was really looking at her. "Anyone who fiercely defends their team, their subordinates even, like you do? Can't fail. You'll inspire loyalty even from the most skeptical, hell, you changed  _ my  _ mind about." 

"I did…"

"I  _ hated you.  _ Especially when you stormed on my ship by befriending my AI, not even to arrest me but to scold me for not thinking of my team. If you do that for someone you're supposed to be arresting, then what will you do for those you fight with?"

Ava had to concede this to her. She really did have a point with that, Ava would fight anyone and everyone if they  _ dared  _ to mess with her team or any of the new friends she was making. She was fiercely protective of her own and hell, she went out of her way to protect those not in her 'pack' of all things.

"Huh, I guess you're right." Ava said with a thoughtful huff.

Sara grinned cheekily, "I'm  _ what _ now, Agent Sharpe?" 

Ava slapped her for that. "Don't gloat and it's  _ Director  _ Sharpe to you, Captain Lance."

"That's my girl." Sara bonked into Ava's side lightly and led her away from her little hidey hole she had found. "Now come on, unfortunately Rip wants to see you."

Ava restrained her first instinct and saying that he could go fuck himself, instead she choose to follow Sara. Rip knew well enough than to try and bargain anything now, at least she hoped he did or her patience would be very, very,  _ very  _ short lived.

It didn't take long at all to find him, he was talking with Wally on the bridge. The speedster greeted them before he was gone in an instant, no doubt making himself scarce in anything went south while the three of them were alone.

"Be quick." Ava told him as she crossed her arms in front of her chest and stood tall, easily intimidating him.

"Ahhh… I just wanted to congratulate you on your promotion. I'm not quite so foolish to believe you would let me return after what I've done. But if I may, ask to be permitted to do my own investigation on my own with no help or any sort of hindering from The Bureau?"

Her first instinct was to tell him no and let him rot in prison. But then, she thought about it. He'd be putting himself in danger for his own thing on his  _ own  _ time. He'd finally see the harsh reality that all those helpless agents faced as they all perished on  _ his _ crusade. Rip wouldn't be in her way anymore and perhaps, just perhaps the man could try and start making himself useful again. 

She wasn't so blinded by hatred to know that, once upon a time, he was great and actually had purpose. His search to prove Mallus was real drove him mad and he made poor choices that were unforgivable in the eyes of everyone he betrayed. 

"Ava-"

"Permission granted." Ava interrupted Sara, her acceptance of his deal surprising both of them. "On  _ one  _ condition, if you come anywhere near the Bureau or it's agents  _ or  _ it's contractors, then I  _ will  _ throw you in holding and watch you rot." 

Luckily, he wasn't stupid and accepted it. 

"Then, I will let Captain Lance deal with you, I have to get to the Bureau and sort out this mess." Ava turned to Sara and gave her a tight smile, getting a few small whispers of encouragement in return. After, she spun on her heel and marched through a portal into the disaster bomb the Bureau was if what Sara and Rip could see was any proof.

Things were awkward for a moment before Rip cleared his throat and said, "So… you and Agent-  _ Director  _ Sharpe?"

Sara smiled softly, warm, fuzzy feelings rising in her chest as she thought about her soulmate. "She's special, Rip. She's my… my soulmate." He knew of her struggle to connect to her soulmate, hell, he witnessed her breakdown several times in the early days when she doubted she had one because the only scars she bore then, had been her own. 

Rip winced, an action that thankfully went unnoticed by Sara. "Congratulations are in order then?"

A distant crashing noise and the sounds of Zari swearing someone out were a much more pressing concern than Rip and Sara allowed herself to disengage and go find out what happened. "You can see yourself off the ship, hopefully, I won't see you again." 

Rip gave her an almost pained smile before he hastily turned away. "Gideon?"

"Yes, Captain Hunter?"

"Delete file 5354 _ zed _ from the Bureau's mainframe. Sara can never know the truth about Ava." 


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapters are delayed until Dinahsiren week is over, but have a short, sweet chapter to tide ya over til then

"Hey." Sara said gently as she leaned against the doorframe to Ava's office. She hadn't heard from her soulmate in a few days and really hadn't thought much about it at first as Ava was getting used to a new role, so instead of being in charge of a few dozen agents, she was now in charge of everything.

Which, she understood as she went from being just Sara Lance, the White Canary to Captain Lance, a respected leader of both her team and with the other teams. Hell, Ava's agents even started listening to her once the crusade against the Legends eased up.

It was kind of nice.

"Huh?" Ava's reflexes were severely slowed as she stared at Sara with a bleak expression on her face. There were numerous bags under her eyes and her normally perfect hair was unkempt and unruly as if she had run her hands through it numerous times. 

Sara softened at seeing how ragged her girlfriend looked. How long had she been at this? How long had it been since she last ate or even  _ slept _ ? As she continued to look at Ava, she realized it could have very well been more than three days.

"Alright, that's enough work." Sara went over and gently moved the papers away from Ava, just enough so that she could sit on the desk with Ava now between her knees. The tiredness had to have been worse than she thought because Ava just looked at her with the same lost, dumb look and was most definitely immune to her current innuendos. 

"Sara?" Ava rasped, her voice thick and a little slurred.

"Babe, why don't you take a few days to rest?" Sara suggested kindly at first, she knew how important Ava was to the Bureau now and knew how much pride her girlfriend took in being able to live up to the expectations set upon her. However, she was of no use to anyone this tired and this ragged, so Sara had told Gary to pass off the duties to the board for three days so their new Director could get some rest and be back good as new.

Ava frowned. "But-?"

"Already taken care of. Your three day weekend starts as soon as you leave. The Board approved it and Gary will only bother you if it's a  _ real  _ emergency, not if he's stuck in a closet again." Sara reassured her.

Tears welled up in Ava's eyes and she suddenly fell forward, burying her face in Sara's stomach. "I'm so tired." She mumbled and burrowed further into her girlfriend, wrapping her arms around Sara's waist.

Sara's heart swelled out of the fondness she felt for her soulmate. She carded through Ava's hair, unable to help herself from sorting through the disheveled mess while Ava dozed off against her. Logically, she knew that they couldn't stay here like this but Ava looked so damn adorable burrowed into her while snoring lightly.

"Director- Oh, I'm sorry, Captain Lance." An agent said as he came into Ava's office unannounced. "I didn't know you were here."

Sara threw him a withering look, daring him to keep talking and disturb the only ounce of rest that Ava had gotten in days. "Whatever you have, it can wait. Director Sharpe needs to sleep."

He flushed, clearly apologetic and embarrassed that he walked in on them during a private moment. "Of course, I'll, uh, leave it with her second." He scurried away, the action pulling a laugh from Sara and ever so slightly jolting Ava who grumbled plaintively.

“Come on, get up.” Sara lightly shoved Ava and got the saddest puppy dog look she had ever seen. Goddammit, how dare she be so damn cute? Sara doubted she’d be able to resist that look under any other circumstance, but she had to stand firm because there was no way Ava was going to get any rest in that office chair of hers with agents streaming in and out. 

Ava eventually relented and stumbled after Sara through the portal her girlfriend opened up to get to her apartment. She was exhausted but at least not exhausted enough to be unreasonable about the fact that a bed would be far more comfortable than her office. Plus, there was the added perk that Sara would be there to cuddle with her, which was hard to do at the Bureau but oh so easy to do in Ava’s big comfy bed.

Sara did force Ava into the shower first, not alone of course. She got in as well because she knew that her girlfriend would barely be able to operate her own damn shower due to how exhausted she was. Luckily, Sara knew exactly how to work it after many nights of borrowing it in an attempt to have some peace and quiet from the asylum that she called her ship.

“Okay, babe. Please, stop being adorable so you can get in your pajamas.” Sara averted her eyes from Ava’s nude form (she wasn’t trying to start anything, Ava was too tired for that) and held out a pair of clean shorts and a t-shirt for her to sleep in. 

Finally, finally, she got Ava to lie down in bed so she could go to sleep. As soon as her head hit her pillow, Ava was out for the count, lightly snoring which was oddly endearing. Sara just chuckled before she left the room to go double check that everything was secure before she would settle down to be the little spoon. 

There was just something magical about crawling into bed with the person who was her soulmate, even if their bond hadn’t formed, there really was no one else Sara would rather snuggle with after a long day of time travelling shenanigans.

\---------------

Sara snuggled further into Ava, sighing as she wished she could murder the sun for shining so brightly through the curtains. Why did all good things have to come to an end? Not only was she warm and content while being the little spoon, it was the first proper sleep she'd had in what felt like  _ months. _

"Sara." Ava's breath tickled her ear, pulling a giggle from her. "Stop thinking so loud." She whined and tightened her arms around her girlfriend's stomach. "You can't murder the sun."

That was odd. "Uh, how did you-?"

They both laid there in the silence as Sara could practically feel the gears in Ava's head turning. Maybe she could? You were supposed to be able to understand your soulmate's feelings and thoughts (not that you could hear what they were thinking) on a deeper level once you accepted the bond. But their bond was broken, so there was no way, right?

Sara felt her face pinch, a small thought suddenly intruding her mind, it was small and really out of left field but she wanted toast? French toast? She didn't even  _ like  _ french toast! Ava did but that was because she was a weirdo who ate  _ everything  _ and was still in prime condition.

"Hey, wait!" Sara flipped over suddenly, meeting Ava face to face. She dimly noted the cautious hope on her face before she exclaimed, "You want french toast!" 

The grin that spread across Ava's lips then took Sara's breath away and renewed her hope that maybe, just maybe they weren't imperfect for each other after all.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Set during I, Ava as they find out Ava's a clone... Or is she really?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for this being a little sloppy but here ya go folks! It's time for the big reveal!
> 
> Big thanks to @unlocktherainbow for reading the rough draft and kicking my ass into over drive. Thanks so much bro ✊🏼💙

"It doesn't matter if this is where you came from," Sara held Ava's face tightly between her hands, her heart clenched tightly at the wild look she got and the tears in Ava's eyes. "What matters is you're  _ you,  _ not just some clone. You're Ava, my Ava."

"But, that's not even my  _ name _ . I'm just a number." She fearfully looked back at where the clones were resting, undisturbed. The room was eerily silent, save for Ray's typing and the sound of Gary freaking out. "Who am I?" Ava's voice broke in the middle of her sentence, prompting Sara to hug her tightly.

"We can figure that out? Okay?"

"Why would you want to be with a  _ clone? _ " Ava searched her face after she pulled back from the iron grip Sara had on her. She just couldn't believe that Sara could have any woman, maybe  _ any  _ of these clones and chose her instead. 

Flawed. Weak. A mistake. Easily replaceable. So why would someone like Sara, settle for someone like her?

Ray fumbled, drawing their attention away from each other as he held a disc drive in one hand. "Uh, I downloaded as much information as I could but we should  _ definitely  _ get out of here." He threw a nervous glance over his shoulder as if he was afraid of them being discovered. Not that they couldn't handle themselves, they were more than capable, it was just unnerving to fight an army of clones that had a friend's face.

Sara pursed her lips in thought. "Okay, Ava, you know I think you're special and definitely not just a number, but you have the same face comes in handy right about now." She told them her plan, Ava would disguise herself as a regular old clone and would "march" them out of the room, from there they would take off out of the building and back to the Bureau's mothership.

She just hoped that the clone that they knocked out earlier before Ava showed up would stay hidden until they were long gone.

\--------

Of course that didn't happen, their cover was well and truly blown when the clone ordered the four of them to be  _ dealt  _ with while holding them at gunpoint. Ava approached her, staring her down as if to intimidate her into cowering and when it didn't work, smacked the gun out of her hand and headbutted the clone to the ground.

Well.  _ Damn _ .

Sara couldn't help the appraising look she shot Ava, it wasn't her fault that her girlfriend was hot when she took charge like that. It was something that she'd definitely revisit later, maybe naked, maybe not. 

But yeah, not right now, she's a little busy trying to fight several clones that have her girlfriend's face so she'll have to channel that anger from when they were butting heads into this fight.

\---------

"What do you think it says?" Sara knocked into Ava's shoulder as they stood in the library, waiting for Gideon to finish decoding everything they'd stolen from  _ that  _ place. She was curious, especially as Ray had looked more than a little shocked himself until he had the idea of taking as much information as he could with them. There was a lot that rattled him so that wasn't odd, she just felt a weird… pull? 

It didn't make sense but hopefully it would soon.

Ava shifted nervously. "I don't know. I still am trying to wrap my head around the fact that… that I'm a-"

"Hey, you don't have to say that." Sara stopped her when it was obvious that she was struggling to accept her new reality. "And that doesn't define you, I mean, does me being a former assassin define me?"

"In a way." Ava said truthfully, a small, shy look on her face. That answer definitely wasn't what Sara was expecting so she prodded at her girlfriend to continue. "It's… a part of you. A part of your life that gave you your skills and drove you to here. But then, it's like, it doesn't matter? It matters because it makes you, you but- ugh, I don't know where I'm going with this." She ran a hand through her hair, one of her signs that she was beyond nervous and itching to fiddle with  _ something _ .

Sara actually did understand what she was getting at. "No, I get it. It's the same for you, you know? It doesn't matter your past, what matters is if you decide to move forward or let yourself become trapped by it."

Ava made a little pinched face as if she was genuinely considering it. Of course, Sara didn't expect her to be one hundred percent fine with the whole, clone thing in one afternoon. Her whole world had been turned on its head, causing her to question everything she’s ever known. Her memories were fake, the people that she thought were her parents turned out to just be actors who lived off the high life of being paid off by the Bureau in order to keep up the ruse that Ava was real.

Sara growled a little at that thought. Ava  _ was  _ real, she was as real as they came. She laughed, she cried, she cared and she did everything that any other human did. She thought freely and shared freely, she felt  _ emotions _ and that was the realest thing a human could do.

"Decryption finished." Gideon chimed in helpfully and broadcasted a video shot from a hidden camera that showed a curious wolf puppy sniffing at it. The pup yipped, hopped back and then charged and yipped again, either trying to play with the camera or intimidate it.

Sara and Ava exchanged a confused look, why on earth would a cloning facility have video of wolves? Unless they planned on cloning them too? 

The puppy plopped down on their rear, cocking their head curiously as a little red light reflected in their blue eyes. They carefully reached out a paw and covered the light, almost human in their movements. 

A female voice suddenly started talking in hushed tones, "Subject A is curious, she shows good signs of development and responds bravely in the face of an unknown object. I don't believe her hearing has developed well yet because she seems to be ignorant to the fact that I'm here. Other than that, she has a wonderful coat colour as a wolf and her personality is ideal for production. End log 1, August 23rd, 1984."

Sara made Gideon stop for a moment, "What does this have to do with Ava?"

"I'm not sure, Captain. However, I believe it best we keep watching the videos. There's more logs of this specific wolf."

Another video spooled up and they settled back in to keep watching. Sara reached down for Ava's hand, brought it up to her lips and pressed a kiss to the back of it. Whatever they found out through these videos, she wanted Ava to know that she was there for her. No matter what.

The wolf was a little older, still curious as she hopped about and tried to figure out a cage trap that had obviously been placed there by a hunter of some sort. She seemed intelligent enough to understand to avoid the trigger mechanism at all costs and snagged the treat before scampering away to eat her prize in peace.

"Log 35, her intelligence grows each day. The traps are trivial for her now, she's smarter than the rest of the pack, even as a young pup still. Subject A remains the only viable subject, now, how to get a blood sample from a werewolf pup...?" There was no formal date on that one as it just cut out, the video ending on the wolf rolling around on her back, pleased as punch with her success.

The next one was just an audio log and it was just heavy breathing at first, muttered swears growing louder and louder until she spoke in a clear voice, "Fuck, I got the blood samples I needed and gave her a stimulant to keep her alive but fuck, fuck it went so wrong. She was supposed to hit the net trap first but she stepped into a bear trap, fucking hunters and their inhumane methods, I can only hope her pack finds her first because they'll be able to heal her, I couldn't- I got the sample but at what cost? When did this become worth it?"

An eerie silence lingered for a few minutes before the scientist swore again and shut off the recorder.

Sara saw Ava pinch the bridge of her nose and take in a shaky breath. Such as she did, the scar on her wrist became visible to Sara again and suddenly, all the air left her body as realization hit her like a ton of bricks. 

_ Memories. Flashes of the past, Sara, she was running, running from danger. She could feel the hot wolf breath on the back of her neck, the teeth nipping at her heels as they toyed with her, making her run further and further into the forest. Sara hadn't been older than five at the time but even then, she was scared she was going to die. _

_ Until a blonde furred, blue eyed wolf-pup snarled and chased them off, pulling Sara out of the mud she'd fallen into.  _

_ Shifting, shifting, smiling and names shared, Ava and Sara _ .

Sara pinched the bridge of  _ her _ nose, disoriented from the onslaught of memories cramming their way into her head. Another one flashed up, startling her but-

_ Older. They were older now, Ava was hurt, she'd been trapped, trapped but still happy to see Sara in the forest. Sara screamed, almost passing out at the sight of her friend so close to death but she held it together long enough to get help. _

_ Seizures followed, pain in Ava's small body and then Sara had trouble breathing, she cried out for help and- _

She shook her head, dispelling the unpleasant memory. Huh, so that was their first test of feeling each other's pain, but how? They didn't have a bond then, both had been too young to properly develop one and they didn't have a bond  _ now. _

Also,  _ Ava  _ was a werewolf? Her Ava? The woman she'd known for months now, or maybe all her life, was a magical creature? 

She didn't have time to think about it as another audio tape booted up. "Subject appears to be entirely too friendly." They heard the sounds of ruffling and a miniscule amount of baby talk that was  _ definitely  _ not aimed towards the recorder. "Her name is Ava, she's really friendly and I don't think she understands why I'm here. She is fantastic at playing fetch and will happily scare away any 'mean bugs' which thank goodness, the insects of this decade are terribly large." Her voice betrayed all the amusement she felt and the camera flickered to life in the middle of the recording.

A blue eyed, blonde haired child sat near the lens, grinning wolfishly as she realized she was now on camera. "Ava, darling, do you want to say hi?" The scientist asked.

"Hi!" She chirped happily, reaching out her hands to touch what was recording her. "What's this?" Young Ava asked as she tilted her head from side to side, curious and entranced by the piece of technology.

"It's a camera, darling. It records images, here, I'll show you…"

After that recording cut off, Sara made Gideon stop the data drive as Ava's face was tinged green around the edges while her eyes flickered towards the entrance. "Hey, are you okay?" It was a stupid question to ask, of  _ course  _ she wasn't okay but Sara had to start somewhere. Even if she herself was still reeling from the fact that her girlfriend was a wolf, Ava was bound to be in a worse state than her.

Ava's lips pressed in a thin line and Sara noticed that she was trembling ever so slightly. All of this was too much for her,  _ of course  _ it would be. Ava found out she was a clone, then not quite a clone but a part of some fucked up science experiment and then what? What happened next? What happened after?

"Ava." Sara physically stood between her and the screen, getting a better look at the tears pooling in Ava's eyes. 

The same eyes on that wolf and that child in the video. The same ones that she saw for the first time at five years old after being dragged out of the muck...

_ Mean words coming out of her mouth. Insecurity, fear, terror as she thought of looking 'uncool' in front of friends who meant jack shit to her. Words she said to her best friend, Ava hurt and tears in her eyes, a small cry escaping her as Sara turned away, teeth gritting as she instantly regretted her harsh words but couldn't take them back. _

_ Sara never saw Ava again after that, nor remembered her after her first death. Her family didn't bring her up, but there had always been something, someone she was forgetting.  _

The lazarus pit made her forget? Did it take her connection too? Was that why she and Ava couldn't bond? But that didn't explain how they both shared scars, or had started sharing scars since Ava pulled her out of Mallus's realm...

When Sara's vision cleared this time, Ava was gone, having fled the ship after the onslaught of information and emotions had become too much for her to handle. Ah, it was a reasonable response after everything that had happened, Nate liked to do it too when he got overstimulated so Sara hoped that after a little time, Ava would be more than willing to talk. 

And if not talk, maybe stand her company long enough to check on her.

\---------

Sara had portalled into Ava's living room, a styrofoam container in hand and a bag that had her own dinner in it just in case Ava didn't want to be alone. If she did, Sara didn't know what she'd do but she'd try to be as open minded as possible because while today had been stressful for her herself, it didn't come  _ close  _ to how bad today had to have been for Ava.

God, has it already been two weeks since the death totem experience? Where she tried to break up with Ava, only for her girlfriend to hold her ground, look her in the eye and tell her that that's  _ not  _ going to happen? Sara had been pleasantly delighted by the fact that Ava refused to give up on her, told her to take as much time as she needed but that she wasn't going to let her break up with her when she was clearly scared and confused to make a rational decision. And well, if you asked Sara, that had been one of Ava's smartest moves.

"Ava?" Sara knocked on the bedroom door gently. "Hey, I know you might not be okay and um, might not want a visitor but I brought you dinner." She waited for the door to open, at least enough to pass off the container of still warm food. 

Ava took it from her, obviously sitting on the floor if the positioning of her hand gave Sara any indication. It was as if she managed to hide her feelings from the world, but as soon as she was in the safety of her own room, she collapsed. She closed the door pretty much immediately after, barring Sara from entering and said nothing afterwards.

As Sara tried to be casual, leaning against the wall, she was also straining to hear any sounds coming from her girlfriend. No luck, Ava was dead quiet and it was more than a little concerning.

In the entirety of their relationship, Ava had  _ never  _ closed off like this. Even back when they hated each other, the woman had been an open book, easy to read and she shared her feelings when she wanted to. Especially when Sara tried ramming the mothership to get them to back off and not take Zari, because even if Zari had been sort of an asshole then, Sara wasn't about to let Ava take her back  _ there. _

But apparently, the woman had a secret alliance with her damn AI. Gideon had let Ava teleport onto the Waverider after about an hour and a half, Ava berated Sara but not for endangering the agents under her command but for how Sara put  _ her friends _ in danger. Before she turned away, she had just asked, "Did you ask them if they'd follow you into hell before you charged anyways?" And left the same way she came in, the threats of arrest lingering as Sara let herself feel guilty because dammit, Ava had had a point.

"Hey, if you don't want me here, I understand." Sara pushed off the wall with a little sigh, shaking off the memories of what's happened in their past. 

"No! Don't go!" Ava's startled voice almost knocked Sara on her ass, she hadn't been expecting an outburst like that. "I don't want to be alone, please."

Well, okay then. 

Sara carefully sat down on the floor, pressing her back against the door, much like she imagined Ava was doing right then. It was a different sort of intimacy than she expected when getting into a relationship, being there without being  _ there _ but it was nice, it was nice to be able to help Ava with whatever she needed to get through this rough… existence pretty much.

They sat in silence for a bit, the only sounds Sara could hear were the sounds of Ava's fork scraping against the styrofoam. Good, she was eating at least, that was a start down the right path. It was probably best that she didn't say anything either, not that she could, honestly, because what does someone say to their girlfriend after she finds out that she's a clone? Hell, then she finds out she's not a clone but a werewolf involved in some fucked experiment?

Did Ava even know she had been a werewolf?

Whatever happened after today, Sara wanted to be by her side, help her figure it out because wolf backstory or  _ not,  _ soulmate bond or  _ not _ , Ava was her soulmate dammit, nothing else mattered to her. Besides, a werewolf? That was normal compared to preventing a Beebo from being a god, it didn't change how Sara felt about Ava.

Which was scary, honestly but that was something she could think about later.

Sooner, rather than later, Sara got bored and ripped off a piece of the paper bag from her dinner. She propped it up on her knee, pulled a pen from her bra and started aimlessly doodling on it. The shape of a bee quickly took place on the brown scrap of paper which caused her to get a wicked idea. She scribbled a little encouraging pun before sliding the paper under the door, hopefully in Ava's line of sight.

A little watery laugh told her that her plan had been a success. "Thank you, Sara." Ava sniffled, her head thumping against the door.

"Hey, anytime." And she meant it, today may have been hard, and  _ rough  _ on both of them but Sara would never leave Ava when she was struggling with her very sense of self. They could figure this out together, like they used to when they were younger… if her memories were right.

_ Sara looks up from her best friend, sleeping on Laurel's lap, smiling, smiling at her parents who take a picture of all three of them.  _

_ "We'll put this in the scrapbook when we get home, eh hon?" Dinah grinned as the polaroid developed and Quentin agreed with a bright laugh. _

Sara frowned, there was a scrapbook?


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sara gets distracted in her search for the scrapbook, there's Lance family time and Ava is a badass

"I'm  _ not _ running away!" Sara rolled her eyes as Ray caught up with her just before she got to the time ship. She really wasn't, Ava was busy with the Bureau and avoiding talking about  _ any  _ of what they discovered, so she wouldn't notice if Sara checked in from somewhere else. 

Ray looked unconvinced. "Then where are you going? You were just going to  _ leave  _ us?"

Well, no…. She was going to have Gideon tell the team in case they asked… but did that make it better or worse?

"Ray, I'm an adult, I can go places by myself." Sara crossed her arms under her chest, giving him her best stern captain look. In her defense, she really didn't think anyone would have a problem with her going off on a side mission by herself. 

"It's not that." He fidgeted with his hands, his emotions plain as day on his face. The big softie, he really did have too big of a heart for his own good sometimes. "I just, worry about you, you know?" Ray admitted quietly, unable to meet her eyes just in case he didn't like what he saw there.

She did know though. He worried about  _ everyone,  _ even someone like Nora Darhk who at this point, didn't deserve someone like Ray Palmer to worry if she's okay. Ray was that nice, he was  _ effecient _ , he made a chore wheel for fuck's sake so no one was stuck doing an unfair amount of work to help upkeep the Waverider. 

"I'm just going to visit my family for a few days, okay? See? No big deal." She threw her arms out to the side as if to emphasize her point. It was true though,she was going down to see her family and ask them questions while she was there.

"Yeah, well, it's not everyday you find out stuff like you did about Ava and yourself." He scuffed at the floor, the kidlike action made comical by the tall man. It briefly distracted Sara and softened her enough to think it was a good idea to tell him her main reason for going down to see them.

"Ray, that's why I'm going. It wasn't just a  _ me  _ thing, my family knows something too and I need to ask them." That answer seemed to satisfy him for the time being and he told her to wait a few seconds before she left just before he dashed off around the corner, away from the jumpship. A couple of minutes wouldn't kill her, her family knew she was busy here so they knew she might be a little late sometimes…

Or all the time.

"Captain!" Nate tackled her with a huge hug, startling her as she looked up at him as best as she could. "Big dog Ray says you got business, I wanted to wish you luck!"

Zari punched her shoulder with a grin, Nate's large frame having hidden her from appearing in Sara's line of sight at first. "Yeah, Cap, don't get dead or we'll have some explaining to do to your girlfriend." she teased Sara, poking her sides like Laurel used to do when trying to get a rise out of her.

Older sisters were like that, Sara discovered.

Mick looked as Mick always does, disgruntled and annoyed by the fact everyone was being so affectionate with each other. He did raise his beer at her with a grunt, telling her in his own way that she needed to be careful, which warmed her heart enough because she knew he did care about her and the ragtag team of misfits that joined them since their and Ray's start to the team.

Wally, Ray and Amaya all gave her hugs once she pried Nate off and she actually kind of like this. Maybe she was wrong to try to leave without everyone knowing, it was kind of nice for them all to see her off with various hopes of good luck and well wishes. Kind of felt like family, instead of her just captaining them and it felt  _ so  _ much better than them just being a team.

"Alright, Amaya's in charge, if there's an emergency, I have my radio with me. Ray and Zari, keep updating the ship. Mick? Make sure to wash the dishes, Ray did them last time and the time before that…" She chuckled a little as they all accepted their various orders and the others divided up who'd they'd help before they waved her off.

Sara turned away from them, took a deep breath, and boarded the jump ship for Star City to see her family and to find answers for questions that only recently came back to her memories.

\----------

"Sara!" Quentin attacked Sara with a giant bear hug, lifting her off of the ground and he squeezed her so tightly that she felt the air  _ woosh  _ out her lungs. Well, if she had to die again, then at least being squeezed to death by love was a damn fine way to go. 

"Dad, I think she'd like to, you know, breathe." Laurel didn't look up at her sister being attacked by their excited father, it was the standard trip whenever she came home, only  _ once  _ had Sara come in and just collapsed into a puddle of tears.

Sara nodded rapidly, agreeing with her sister as Quentin gingerly put her down. "I haven't been gone that long this time, have I?" She rubbed at the back of her neck, suddenly sheepish and a little ashamed that she hadn't been keeping track of the real world while racing against the clock to find the six totems. 

Her mother spoke up from the kitchen, an unexpected party because she was usually busy or they had little family gatherings other places to accommodate her schedule. Sara was happy about the surprise but a little more concerned as to why  _ she  _ was in the kitchen, Laurel and her knew that their parents couldn't cook to save their lives.

"She's just heating up some takeout." Laurel murmured to her after she stood up to hug and give Sara her own greeting. "They know better than to cook after  _ the incident. _ " That caused them both to giggle, hesitant looks being shot their way by their parents.

After they settled in the living room with their plates of food, Sara decided to get caught up on everyone's lives. It had been too damn long since she'd been nosey or harassed them for details about their lives, which, god she missed just sitting with her family and listening to them drone on about what happened.

"So, Laur, how're you and Felicity doing?" Sara crossed her socked feet under herself, eagerly awaiting for some type of juicy gossip or just something cute in general. 

A little lovesick grin crossed Laurel's lips and she stuffed a fork full of noodles into her mouth to avoid answering for a few minutes. Sara leaned forward in anticipation but was elbowed back by Quentin who gave her a dry look to which she responded with an innocent smile.

"We're talking about moving in together." Laurel finally said and Sara almost threw her bowl out of excitement. "Woah, before you pester me, we're looking for a place together, this is recent and no you cannot intimidate my soulmate." 

"Aw come on!"

"You love Felicity though!"

"Yeah, but she's dating my  _ sister _ . I'd threaten you but you'd bring up the time I cut my own hair and  _ nobody  _ wants that." 

"Girls, please." Dinah sighed as they bickered for a few more moments before turning on her with their best looks of 'yes mom?' and the cheekiest grins they could pull off. 

"Wait until I can tease  _ you _ about your soulmate." Laurel responded smugly.

Sara wanted to say something more but another memory flash temporarily paralyzed her.

_ Wolf Ava, panting, grinning in her own way as she sat near Laurel while her tail wagged. Laurel talked, talked about something while Sara watched, happy to see her sister and best friend bonding. _

She came back to it to her mother gently touching her shoulder, a little frown on her face and her eyebrows pinched as she studied Sara. That was a look she was familiar with, Dinah was concerned, but about what? She hadn't zoned out for more than a second, right?

"We've been calling your name for the past five minutes, are you okay?" Dinah asked gently.

"I'm fine, was it really five minutes?"

"Yeah, we didn't want to jolt you out of… whatever that was. What was it?" Laurel piped up from the floor, frowning herself.

Sara flopped back into the couch, a long drawn out groan escaping her as she thought of the whirlwind the past week had been. God, not only was she still reeling from the death totem, but the whole reveal of who Ava had been this entire time and that  _ neither  _ of them knew. How could they not remember they'd been best friends as children? That they met as soulmates years ago?

The scrapbook came back to mind but at this point she was too tired to ask about it. "Hey, can I just crash early?"

"Um, sure? You don't have to ask but are you going to tell us why you spaced out like that?"

"Not tonight but yes." The seemed hesitant about that, sharing unsure looks with each other while Sara threw her plate in the sink before she ran off to hide in her old bedroom.

  
  


That night, she dreamt of wolves.

\---------

The next morning, her dad decided it'd be a fantastic idea if they all went to lunch together. Sara thought it was a horrible idea, mainly because she and Laurel could never agree on where to go or the fact that all four of them would "throw hands" with someone if needed. 

It wasn't  _ her  _ fault that her family was full of scrapper instigators.

After they sat down, Sara saw someone that she had been careful to avoid if for nothing other than she didn't want her family asking about her. "I'll be back!" Sara rushed off, totally a smooth choice if you asked her, grabbed the woman by the hand and dragged her around the corner and out of sight. 

She pushed Ava against the wall and was about to grill her on why she was her but a cheeky smile stopped her. "Well, hello to you too, Sara." She drawled and Sara frowned in response.

"Why are  _ you  _ so chipper?"

"I can't be?" Ava asked, reaching up to tap at her chin and utterly missed, poking at her own nose instead. 

Sara knew this, Ava was trying to act like she was fine with things but she was failing at it if she couldn't control her own damn hands. "Hey, don't hide your feelings." Her hands cupped Ava's face and she pressed their foreheads together, uncaring if anyone saw them because her girlfriend needed her. Right?

"Ugh, it's just, Gary knows and is treating me like I'm made of glass while rambling on about how cool it is that we're both-" Her voice caught for a second before she whispered, "Werewolves." 

Honestly, Sara didn't think Ava would admit to that part so fast but she was proud of the progress that she was making, so she'd take the win for what it was. Though, now that she was  _ really  _ able to scan Ava's face, she looked tired, good but tired. "Are you sleeping?" She asked, a diversion for what it was.

"Sort of, I just, I keep  _ dreaming  _ of-of wolves and I don't  _ get  _ it."

Sara frowned. Wolves? Were they dreaming of the same thing? That wouldn't be strange if they were bonded, some bonded soulmates reported that they knew what the other person was dreaming but it was rare that they dreamt the  _ exact  _ same thing. 

She had to ask, to make sure. "Is… is it about a little blonde wolf? And a bigger one?"

"Yeah, they're always together, chasing and playing with each other." Ava nodded, answering automatically until she fully realized what Sara asked. "Wait, how do you know?" 

"I see them too." She whispered, now trying to recount all the times she'd seen them. It was mainly when she was away from Ava, as if her mind was trying to  _ tell  _ her something but she hadn't been able to decipher it until now. 

It was them, as wolves, keeping them together even when they were apart. It had to be a side effect of the soulbond, right? Maybe theirs was reforging, out of their own will and the more Ava learned about herself, that'd make the most sense, if sense was something they counted on these days. 

Ava relaxed a little in response. 

"So, um, since you're here, do you want to meet my family?"

"Didn't I do that already?" Ava frowned again, seemingly unable to recall if she  _ had  _ met them or not.

"Not like this, if the memories are right, we were teenagers the last time you saw them."

"Makes… sense I guess. But question." She pursed her lips, a funny thing to see as she was still pressed against the wall with Sara's body preventing her from escaping even if she wanted to. "Memories? Did you know?"

Sara shook her head. "No, can I explain it later? I'd rather not have Laurel, or worse, my dad find us out here like this."

"What about your mom?"

"You see, my mom won't tease me about it. My dad will pretend to be blinded by the fact his daughter has a girlfriend and  _ oh god, I never told them about you. _ " Sara realized in a sudden bout of horror. In her defense, she  _ had  _ been incredibly busy trying to keep the timeline from collapsing while balancing all the new mystic bullshit on top of that. 

Ava gave her the driest look she had ever seen from her and pushed her off, ignoring the pout Sara gave her. "You better get back in there then."

"Come with me?" Sara grabbed one of her hands with both of hers, bringing it up to her lips and pressing a soft kiss to Ava's knuckles. She pulled out her best set of puppy dog eyes as well, hoping that this was one of the times that she was weak enough to fall for her charm tactics. 

It worked.

Ava was shy as she was introduced to the Lance family, unsure of where she'd stand with them even if Sara  _ knew  _ that they'd all adore her as soon as she let herself relax. Plus, they all knew her anyways if the little glances they shared when Sara told them Ava's name was any indication.

"So…" Laurel broke the awkward silence as Ava looked even  _ more  _ unsure of herself. "What do you do?"

Ava glanced at Sara who just mouthed for her to make something up. It was a bad idea to be so open about what she really did while they were in a crowded diner. "Uh, mostly… paperwork." 

"Really?" Sara couldn't help but groan because that was a bad explanation on  _ any  _ level. Her girlfriend couldn't be smooth to save her life but Sara adored her anyways. 

Ava made a noise of protest. "Well,  _ you  _ try explaining what I do."

"I could do better than  _ paperwork _ ."

"It's mostly what I do! I don't go out into the field often anymore since that damn promotion." Ava said bitterly, crossing her arms and leaning back against the booth. 

Sara winced. She knew losing Director Bennet was still a sore spot, even though the man was sort of an ass, him being alive allowed Ava free reign to be in charge in the field. It let her be with the Legends more, be with Sara more because she didn't have to worry about getting everything settled now that she was in charge. The only thing that  _ had  _ been easy was all the agents already respected her from her fierce protectiveness in the field. 

Well, also, the fact that they'd all seen her personally visit agent's families to let them know if the unthinkable happened in their line of work. It was rumored she always,  _ always  _ came back a little teary eyed despite a stern resolve on her face. Sara believed them, Ava had the biggest, softest heart of anyone she knew but wouldn't dare let anyone know that she was a total softie for her friends and agents. 

"Sorry, sore topic." Sara apologized and got a grateful smile from Ava. "She's law enforcement, more quantico than street cops." She explained for Ava, her girlfriend laying her hand on hers and giving it a small squeeze. 

"Really?" Quentin asked, sitting up a little. "Not FBI, I hope."

"Hell no." Ava said immediately. "Those shams only pretend to help people, really, they micromanage the population and unfairly punish people who aren't even guilty." She scowled at the thought of the FBI. 

Sara chuckled a little to herself, she knew well enough about Ava's passionate hatred for the corrupt justice system. Mainly she griped on about how idiotic everyone was but the rant had it's other charms too, watching Ava get riled up in the name of justice was hot too.

Lunch went more smoothly after the initial awkwardness, Ava was smiling and she laughed at one of Quentin's terrible dad jokes which instantly won him over. Sara knew her mom was getting a read on Ava but could see she was approving the more she watched the two of them together. How Ava would make sure to include Sara in things, ask Laurel about her college days and other things to just get to know the family of the woman she was dating. 

"Hey, I'm gonna go grab something real quick, don't have too much fun without me." Laurel squeezed by them, an easy smile on her face as she walked out with her purse and phone in hand. 

Ava frowned after her, something on her mind as she waited for Laurel to return. 

"What's wrong?" Sara asked, but Ava didn't respond. She was wholly focused on where Laurel had walked out the door. "Ava?"

Ava stood up and took off like a shot out the door, alarming the Lance family as they followed out as fast as they could while settling the bill and tipping their waitress. 

They found Ava chasing after someone at an inhuman speed, Laurel was leaning against a nearby building and holding her nose as a random passerby stood with her, on the phone with what they hoped were the cops. 

"What the hell…?" Sara managed to ask as Laurel tried to keep her nose from clogging up with blood. 

"Got mugged, punched when I fought back." She said in a nasally tone of voice, groaning at the vibrations and the pain throughout her face. Sara helped her, she knew Ava was perfectly capable of taking down a pesky mugger, hell, maybe some of those werewolf traits would kick in? 

Except, none of them expected that just as the cops arrived, Ava came into view with Laurel's things in one hand and the unconscious mugger slung over her shoulder. She dropped him off with ease and ignored their startled reactions so she could pass Laurel her stuff back with a sheepish smile. 

"What?"

"I'm sorry I left you." None of them could believe she was apologizing at all. "But I didn't want him to get away."

"If I wasn't covered in blood, I might  _ kiss  _ you." Laurel thanked her profusely causing Ava to blush under the positive attention from her girlfriend's sister.

Sara stood by, a small pleased grin on her face as her parents flanked her. "You got a good one there." Quentin wrapped his arm around Sara's shoulders and gave her a light, affectionate squeeze. 

"You think she'd like to stay for dinner?" Dinah asked and Sara only nodded. Yes, dinner would be good and  _ then  _ it'd be the perfect time to ask about that scrapbook.

\------------

"Babe, what are you doing?" Sara asked, wondering why her girlfriend was poking around her old room.

"Looking for blackmail. You've seen me as a baby, I want baby pictures of  _ you _ ." Ava said with a too honest look on her face even while she reached to pull Sara in by her hips. She turned up the charm as Sara stood there, pretending to be uninterested in what Ava was doing. "Come on, there has to be  _ something _ ."

Sara held a stern look, trying to stay strong even as Ava broke out her own little puppy dog look. Then, imagining that but on a wolf puppy is what ultimately broke her resolve to bring up the scrapbook she heard about in one of her memory flashes. Ava was a bit surprised at hearing about them but adjusted easily, even agreeing that finding this scrapbook was something that would benefit them both.

"So, why do you think you didn't remember?" Ava asked as they started sneaking around the attic, carefully not to alert anyone below even if it  _ would  _ be the better idea to simply ask.

"Easy, Lazarus pit. Some of my memories from before I died the first time were fuzzy, I got most of them back but I guess most of the olders ones didn't? I don't know the logic behind it, I'm also certain that's part of what cut our soulbond." Sara shifted through a few boxes of dusty baby clothes, making a mental note to convince her mom to either scrap them or wash them and give them to Amaya for her latest obsession with making little fabric plushies. 

"You think?"

"Yeah, I mean, makes the most sense, right?" Sara paused on a particular scrap of fabric, holding it up in front of her with a pensive look on her face. It was old and it looked like something kid Sara would have worn a long, long time ago. The pants had little rips in the knees and mud stains that never quite came out.

The most damning thing was that the little yellow shirt had teeth marks on the back of the neck, as if an animal had grabbed her and pulled her.

"Holy shit." She gawked as it finally connected in her mind which outfit this  _ was _ . 

"What?" Ava asked in alarm, turning towards her from the box of antiques that she was searching.

Sara wordlessly held the outfit out to Ava for her to inspect, but after a few moments, she said,"I was wearing that when we first met." The words made it seem real, that everything was real now, they weren't just speculating or living the memories through someone else. They weren't fumbling around for answers based off of notes or Sara's flighty memory flashes, no, not anymore. The outfit was actual, tangible proof that they  _ had  _ met as kids, that Ava  _ was  _ a werewolf and that they'd been robbed of years together by those who wanted a werewolf for some sick, twisted cloning experiment.

It was almost too much.

Ava held the outfit against her chest, her eyes wide with recognition and fear. She shook like an icesicle after it started to warm up, ready to fall and shatter against the ground. "I remember it. You. I-I remember you. You were so  _ small. _ "

A little choked laugh escaped Sara and she crawled over to Ava, cupping her face and kissing her despite the tears now coming down their faces. "Me? What about  _ you _ ?" 

Ava just laughed with her, holding her tightly as the small outfit was crushed between them.

\-------------

After about an hour, Sara finally admitted it was time to just ask her parents where they hid the damn thing. Of course, Ava thought that they should have started there in the  _ first  _ place but Sara thinks she needs to mind her damn business and let her make bad decisions for herself. If they had done that, they wouldn't have had a breakthrough with the memories already so it was definitely a success, just a long winded way to success was all.

Dinner was ready by the time they got down to the living room, their rumpled clothes  _ definitely  _ giving off the wrong impression as they both tried to explain that it wasn't what it looked like. Laurel was cackling at their misfortune while Dinah and Quentin gave them a stern loom before moving on with serving up what they ordered.

"So, Ava, please tell me you can cook." Dinah asked.

"Actually, I can follow a recipe. Trying to cook by myself? Not so good."

"That's better than anyone with the last name Lance." Laurel quipped and Sara threw a noodle at her in retaliation even though she  _ knew  _ it was true. "Honestly, I don't know how Sara feeds herself."

"A superpowered AI who can fabricate anything I want." Sara said dryly, Ava snorting loudly as the rest of them shared an uncertain look between them.

"Play nice, she has a name, right?" Ava teased, playing along with the joke. 

"Totally." She responded innocently. 

The next few moments passed by uneasily until Dinah decided at the dinner table was the perfect time to bring up a topic that was something of a safe topic. "So… Ava, met your soulmate yet?"

Ava choked on her water, wheezing as she cleared her windpipe of the offending liquid while Sara thumped on the back with one hand. "Sorry, caught me off guard." She actually apologized  _ again  _ for something that wasn't her fault, which was just how Ava was but that didn't mean it was a good thing necessarily. 

"It's okay, dear, take all the time you need." Dinah smiled kindly, slyly eyeing Sara who ignored her in favour of making sure Ava was okay.

"But, uh, I have. She's the biggest brat I know." Ava couldn't help poking fun with Sara right beside her.

"Excuse  _ you _ , I am a goddamn delight!" And like a fool, Sara took the bait and outing their relationship as more than girlfriends to the family. 

"Language!"

"Oh my  _ god _ !"

"Sara! How could you not tell us you met your soulmate again?" All came at once and it was a lot to process, the suddenness of it caused them to freeze for a minute before they were literally swarmed with happy hugs and maybe a few tears that they weren't sure who they came from.

It was nice, yeah, but ultimately not the point. "Yeah, we met again but we didn't remember." She shoved them back and urged them to go back to their spots because they really needed to progress to get to  _ it _ . Sara started to explain what they knew, the flashes, the data from the cloning company, Ava's behaviours that led her to believe the wolf wasn't  _ gone _ , just dormant because of whatever was done to her in 2213.

"A scrapbook?" Quentin asked. "That's what you're here for? Ah, I'm sorry but, we don't have it anymore after the divorce." He said sorrowfully, the words caused both Ava and Sara's hearts to drop out of their stomachs and roll away on the floor.

"I'm sorry, girls. We weren't thinking clearly." Dinah's voice was soft and soothing, Laurel didn't comment other than to shoot them sad looks as they excused themselves from the table to go hole themselves up in Sara's room and grieve about this setback in their discoveries.

Back to square one it was then.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is pretty rough but I hope you enjoyed it nonetheless! 😄
> 
> A/N: THERE IS A REASON WHY THERE WAS NO SCRAPBOOK

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading, please let me know what you thought or come find me on tumblr @ superstitious20!


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